The Covid-19 vaccine could end up on the black market, experts warn.
The much-criticized implementation of the Trump administration laid the groundwork for a scenario in which the rich and politically connected use their money and power to cut the queue and get vaccinated first, they said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has already threatened to impose fines of up to $ 1 million and revoke licenses for doctors, nurses and others who do not follow state and federal vaccine distribution guidelines, which currently prioritize health inoculation in the United States. frontline care workers and nursing home residents.
There have been reports in Miami of donors from major hospitals getting their first shot at the vaccine and in New York of tycoons taking their friends to Florida to be vaccinated with doses intended for an asylum.
And in Colorado, some teachers are crying long after nurses and educators in wealthier public school districts and private schools were vaccinated first.
“It is a little frustrating that districts that no longer have the same accumulated wealth around them were further down the totem pole,” said a ninth grade teacher at Aurora public schools, one of the poorest in the Denver area, who asked to not be identified by name. “The districts that were already receiving a lot of support received it before the districts that need more support.”
Arthur Caplan, of the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University and one of the nation’s greatest bioethicists, said the regret is likely to be heard much more as the divide between who has and who does not have a vaccine grows.
“We are hearing about some politicians, some administrators of large hospitals and others receiving vaccines before health professionals and the elderly,” said Caplan. “I’m also hearing that some [drug manufacturing and distribution] companies are saying that once government contracts are fulfilled, they will make getting vaccines a priority. “
The result will be higher prices for everyone else, said Caplan.
“Everything that is seen as life-saving, life-saving and missing is creating black markets,” said Caplan, echoing the comments he made in an interview last month.
The shortage helped turn toilet paper and masks into gold at the start of the pandemic, and is likely to do the same with vaccines, making them especially attractive to foreign thieves and copycats, other experts said.
“The danger is that there is already a market for unregulated drugs,” said Michael Einhorn, president of drug supplier Dealmed. “And the point is that the products will be imported from foreign countries that may not have regulations as strict as the United States – where the product can be diverted, sold separately and imported into the United States.”
Jonathan Cushing of Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog organization, issued a similar warning in November.
“The vaccine is likely to have a high ‘street value’, making government supplies an attractive target for theft and diversion, unless adequate safeguards are built in supply chains,” wrote Cushing.
Cushing said in an e-mail that so far he has seen “no black market problems in the US”, but the potential is there.
“There have been reports of substandard or counterfeit vaccines already being made in India, and also of counterfeit hand sanitizers in the U.S. appearing during the course of the pandemic,” he said. “We also saw people using connections to access drugs that were supposed to be therapeutic, like hydroxychloroquine.”
“I would say that much of the planning for distribution in the U.S. was done too late, and the lack of clear guidelines and eligibility criteria for receiving vaccines is probably the root cause of many of the problems facing the United States at the moment,” he added. “And subsequently, this lack of planning gives rise to opportunities for individuals to skip the line and explore their position to get vaccines before others.”
Dr. Sadiya Khan, an epidemiologist at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, agreed and added that the lack of a coherent vaccine distribution plan is clear evidence that the federal government has not learned from the failure to increase testing as a means to slow the spread of the virus.
“The absence of any federal infrastructure between counties and states is leading to absolute disaster, in addition to inefficient distribution,” said Khan. “The vaccine distribution is the Groundhog Day of the Covid-19 test at the beginning of the pandemic. Such considerable delays can lead to more hospitalizations and deaths that could be avoided. “
President-elect Joe Biden, who joined the chorus of critics criticizing President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed for not meeting his goal of launching 20 million vaccines by the end of 2020, promised to “move heaven and earth” to accelerate the pace of distribution.
Biden also pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act, which allows a president to compel private companies to prioritize the manufacture of certain items for national security.
In Colorado, teachers were confused this week after the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment surprised educators by suddenly announcing on Wednesday that it was prioritizing first responders and seniors. The announcement came just a week after Governor Jared Polis placed teachers on the state’s priority vaccine list.
By that time, school nurses and health staff in affluent public school districts, such as the Cherry Creek School District in the suburbs of Denver, had already been vaccinated, as were several private school teachers like Stanley British Primary School in Denver, discovered NBC News.
When asked about two private school teachers who posted photos of themselves online holding vaccination cards after taking their photos last week at a local pharmacy, Sumant Bhat, director of Stanley British Primary School, said in an email that he did not organized no vaccinations for its employees.
“Although teachers are now in category 1B, we communicate internally that they are below the line within that category and therefore ‘NOT fit’ for the vaccine at this time,” wrote Bhat. “We are in frequent contact with our independent school network and our public health partners to determine when we will be able to implement a careful plan to make vaccines available to our faculty and staff.”
With the federal government leaving local authorities to distribute the vaccine, Caplan said the likelihood of a non-priority person receiving a vaccine offer increases.
Caplan’s advice to resolve this ethical dilemma?
“We think the employee should accept the vaccine,” wrote Caplan and his ethical colleague Kyle Ferguson. “What goals would be promoted by the refusal? Those who feel the force of the dilemma assume that their refusal would release a scarce resource, that the dose released would end in the arm of those who need it most urgently. But this is doubtful. It is likely that the vaccine will not leave the institution. “