‘I feel cheated’: Mainers react to eligibility of vaccine strictly based on age

With two people in their home considered to be at high risk for COVID-19, the Koch family was extremely cautious during the pandemic.

They haven’t set foot in a supermarket in almost a year, opting for sidewalk service. The two children study at a distance this year and the parents work at the family home in Waterville.

So when the state changed its policy and announced on Friday that the vaccine’s eligibility will be strictly based on age in Maine going forward – regardless of the underlying health conditions – Hilary Koch said she was “stunned and really devastated”.

Both Koch and her husband, who has a heart condition, may not be eligible until May, while their eldest son is unlikely to be in line for an injection until July. In the meantime, it is unclear when or if Koch’s 14-year-old son with type 1 diabetes – an autoimmune disorder that makes any disease more dangerous – will be eligible.

“I’m sorry for every person who is at high risk, but this policy doesn’t suit them – it doesn’t really fit and puts them at the bottom of the line,” said Koch on Monday. “I feel cheated and I feel that people with medical disabilities have been cheated.”

The Kochs have a lot of company in their frustration.

The Mills administration’s announcement that it was switching to age-based eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines provided some level of predictability for hundreds of thousands of Mainers wondering for months when it will be their turn for an injection. In addition to Mainers 60 and older becoming eligible on Wednesday, the approximate timeline foresees vaccinations in April for people in their 50s, in May for people in their 40s, in June for people in their 30s and during the summer for all other people over the age of 16.

But for hundreds of thousands of others, the new policy likely means that they will not be eligible for vaccination before their age group. This is because the state will no longer give priority to individuals with a high-risk medical condition or those in frontline positions.

Governor Janet Mills and state health officials knew that the change would be unpopular with people who have underlying health problems and those who face the greatest risk of exposure because they are teachers, grocery workers, clerks or other items considered “essential” “jobs.

But they said the age-based system is the fastest and most efficient way to achieve “herd immunity”, while offering the best chance of reducing deaths and serious illnesses among older Maine residents, who have had higher mortality rate during the pandemic.

“Given that Maine has the highest average age of any state, this approach is the right one for Maine based on scientific data,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Disease Control and Prevention Center, on Friday. market. “For operational and epidemiological reasons, this age-based approach is what will be best for Maine in terms of saving the most lives in the shortest amount of time.”

This population-wide approach does little to alleviate anger and frustration among individuals who will no longer be given priority due to high-risk medical conditions – a change that goes against the recommendations of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sherri Hartwell pointed out a survey conducted in the United Kingdom that shows that individuals with Down syndrome are five times more likely to be hospitalized and ten times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the general population.

Hartwell’s 39-year-old daughter, Julie, is a person with Down syndrome who lives alone and worked for years at a local restaurant until he closed during the pandemic. Julie “does what she needs to do to be safe,” including wearing a mask, washing her hands and observing all other safety protocols, said Hartwell.

But Hartwell is distressed by the risks that her daughter faces and believes that the state should make exceptions for people with Down syndrome, given the emerging research.

“At the moment, all I care about is keeping it safe,” said Hartwell. “I am angry that the state and the doctors don’t seem to know much about it. … I’m not too angry with age. I understand: we are in a difficult situation. But in cases like this, I wish there was a way for some of these (conditions) to be vaccinated earlier. “

Maine has one of the lowest COVID-19 infection and mortality rates in the country. But the virus had a deadly effect on the state’s oldest residents.

Mainers 70 or older are responsible for only 12 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Maine, but more than 85 percent of all deaths. Meanwhile, only 2 percent of all deaths in Maine occurred among people under the age of 50.

For months, Maine’s official vaccination strategy has put people with high-risk medical conditions in Phase 1B, along with older Mainers and so-called “essential” workers, according to federal recommendations. But states have ample latitude to decide how to distribute doses of the vaccine, and last week Maine joined Connecticut and a handful of other states in adopting an age-based approach.

Research shows that obesity, diabetes, some forms of cancer and other underlying health conditions put individuals in greater danger with COVID-19. But Maine’s status as the nation’s oldest state – with 21.5% of residents aged 65 and over – and the logistical challenges of prioritizing vaccines for high-risk individuals have led them to the controversial age-based approach.

Jeanne Lambrew, a commissioner in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledged that some individuals are at higher risk based on their medical conditions. But the reality is that state policy must be based on groups, not individuals, said Lambrew.

“The evidence strongly suggests that the group that matters most is age,” said Lambrew last week. “So we have to take a population and group-based approach to the state of Maine. We do not have the ability or the ability to go one by one to make eligibility determinations. As Governor Mills has also articulated, these are difficult decisions. But we continue with science. “

Doctors who for months urged high-risk patients to be quiet, now need to ask for even more patience.

Dr. John Winters, an oncologist at New England Cancer Specialists, said that vaccination with COVID-19 is often the next question that patients ask after they finish talking about cancer treatment. And he suspects that many patients will feel as if they have pulled the rug out from under them after hearing for months that they are likely to be eligible during Phase 1B.

Winters said cancer is not a disease – there are a thousand different diseases, some of which clearly put patients at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. Some types of cancer, for example, involve bone marrow transplants or treatments that inevitably kill immune cells. In some of their cases, Winters said, patients actually planned to postpone treatment until after the vaccination.

“In general, we support the Maine CDC and appreciate its efforts to vaccinate doctors and private practices in advance,” said Winters. “I think they are doing a calculation to try to save as many lives as possible, so I understand that. But I think there are a lot of people (with high risk conditions) who are being left out to get the vaccine and who are more vulnerable than the people who are now in line in front of them. “

Koch, Waterville’s mother, has urged people affected by the policy change to contact their lawmakers in the hope of putting pressure on the Mills government on the issue. She is also taking on the role of advocating for all people affected by the decision, not just those with diabetes.

“I would say that the fact that my husband and son are still alive does not mean that their ages are decisive,” said Koch. “It just means that we have taken extraordinary measures to keep them safe for the past year.”

Like the Kochs, Stephen Corral of Gardiner, 44, said he has “played more, more cautiously” during the pandemic, as he works from home, avoids the supermarket and even finds friends. Because type 1 diabetes affects the immune system, even a common cold can pose a significant health risk and take longer to recover.

As a health business analyst with experience in statistical research, Corral received a different message from the data that Shah, the director of Maine’s CDC, presented last week to support the age-based system. Although age is clearly an important indicator of risk, Corral pointed out that diabetics are also much more likely to die after contracting COVID.

“I hope that if there is significant resistance, the government will reconsider,” said Corral. “I think it’s a shame that they decided to go against the recommendations of the US CDC and that they changed course and created more confusion with this policy change. Public health requires a lot of public trust … and I’m concerned with how the changes at the end of the game will affect that trust.

“Previous