Disney employee, 33, boasts on Facebook that she received a COVID vaccine – as the California hospital admits it gave doses to people who are not health professionals
- Riverside, California, a 33-year-old woman wrote on Facebook that she received the COVID-19 vaccine
- The woman, a Disney employee, is not a top healthcare professional
- She wrote that she was able to get the vaccine because of the family connection at the hospital
- Her husband’s aunt is a “big deal” at Redlands Community Hospital, she wrote
- The hospital said it gave leftover doses of the vaccine to employees outside the front line
A Disneyland employee bragged on Facebook that she received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, although she was not a first-rate health professional, and said she received it because her husband’s aunt is a ‘big deal’ at a local hospital .
The 33-year-old woman’s post from Riverside, California, included a photo of her vaccination card from Redlands Community Hospital, near Redlands, California.
‘When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think I was going to get the COVID-19 vaccine today. But here we are. I’m very happy, ‘wrote Riverside’s wife on her Facebook page on December 20.
‘Science is basically my religion, so that was very important to me.’
A 33-year-old Disneyland employee wrote a Facebook post on December 20 bragging about having received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, although she was not a first-rate healthcare professional. The Disneyland resort is seen in the photo in the above file in Anaheim, California
The unidentified woman boasted on Facebook that she received the coronavirus vaccine because her husband’s aunt is a “big deal” at Redlands Community Hospital in Redlands, California (seen in the file photo above)
The content of the post was reported by the Orange County Register, which did not reveal the woman’s name.
When a Facebook friend asked how she managed to get the vaccine, since it is not yet available to the general public, she replied that her husband’s aunt is a ‘big deal’ in the Redlands Community.
She also wrote that the hospital had leftover doses that were due to expire.
The hospital released a statement explaining how the remaining doses were distributed, although it declined to say whether the woman was among those who received one of the vaccines.
“Redlands Community Hospital administered its share of Pfizer vaccines to its frontline doctors, healthcare professionals and support staff in accordance with the guidelines of the California Department of Public Health,” the statement says.
“After the doctors and staff who expressed an interest in the vaccine were administered, several doses remained.
“Since the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine should be used within a few hours or discarded, several doses were administered to health professionals outside the front line so that the valuable vaccine was not thrown away.”
The hospital did not say exactly how many doses were available after it started vaccinating frontline staff and support staff on December 18.
The Pfizer vaccine is effective only when stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit.
If it is not administered soon after thawing, it must be discarded.
Each vial of vaccine should contain five doses, although some have up to two additional doses.
The federal government wants hospitals to administer all available doses, including those left over.
The hospital said it administered the vaccine to employees outside the front line thanks to the leftover doses. The image above shows a vial of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
“Given the public health emergency, the FDA is advising that it is acceptable to use every full dose that can be obtained (the sixth, or possibly the seventh) from each vial, pending resolution of the problem,” said the Food and Drug Administration on December 16 statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health professionals and support teams be given priority in the distribution of vaccines.
Next in line to receive vaccines during the first stage of distribution are vulnerable populations, especially those in nursing homes.
“Federal and state vaccine guidelines have prioritized our frontline healthcare professionals, who have put their lives at risk to fight this virus from day one,” said a California Department of Public Health spokesman.
“We urge all health care providers to follow state guidelines on vaccination phases, which were created in consultation with experts and community leaders.”