A Disney employee in California boasted on Facebook that she received a COVID-19 vaccine – saying she was able to skip the line because her father-in-law is a “big deal” at a local hospital.
“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, ”said Riverside’s 33-year-old wife in a Facebook post on December 20, according to the Orange County Register.
“Science is basically my religion, so that was very important to me,” added the woman, who did not reveal that she was anything less than healthy.
When a commentator asked the unidentified lady how she managed to get one of Pfizer’s coveted vaccines – which were supposed to go to frontline health workers and vulnerable populations in the beginning – the woman replied that her husband’s aunt was a giant at Redlands Community Hospital.
The vaccinated woman – who posted a photo of her hospital’s coronavirus immunization record – added that the center had leftover doses that would have spoiled if she hadn’t used them immediately.
The online post has already been removed.
The Pfizer vaccine can be stored in hospital freezing facilities for up to 30 days and then for five days in refrigerators, the company says.
The hospital defended itself in a statement to the Register, saying, “Redlands Community Hospital administered its quota of Pfizer vaccines to its frontline doctors, healthcare professionals and support staff according to the guidelines of the California Department of Public Health .
“After doctors and staff who expressed an interest in the vaccine were administered, there were several doses left.
“Since the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine must 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.”
But Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine, told the agency that the Disney employee’s vaccination “does not pass the smell test.”
“Nurses, technicians, caretakers and attendants need to be vaccinated before any random members of the community, ” he said.
Still, although the CDC had recommendations on who should be immunized first, “in the end, it is still left to the states and also the individual places where vaccines are administered,” said Dr. David D. Lo, associate dean of research senior at UC’s Riverside School of Medicine, for the Register.
A California Department of Public Health spokeswoman told the vehicle that the state made it clear who should receive what first, saying: “Federal and state vaccine guidelines have prioritized our frontline health professionals who have put their lives at risk to fight this virus from day one. ”