Kaiser Permanente canceled more than 5,200 vaccination appointments in Santa Clara County due to a lack of supplies, leaving some of South Bay’s most vulnerable patients confused and frustrated.
Janet Gillis, a Kaiser patient, had her vaccination scheduled for February 1 – but was abruptly canceled. She and her husband received an email three days before the appointment, notifying them of the move.
“I understand that Kaiser did not receive enough vaccine,” Gillis told San José Spotlight. “What irritates me is that they said they would honor the commitments they had made and then came back with their word.”
The consultations were scheduled between January 29 and February 5, says the hospital. Consultations were scheduled in all locations in South Bay, including San Jose and Santa Clara.
Kaiser officials said they scheduled more appointments than vaccines and were unable to follow up.
“Last week, in a very unfortunate event, we had to cancel some vaccination appointments in our area of Santa Clara because we did not receive the vaccine supplies scheduled when the consultations were made, estimated in previous vaccine deliveries and state and city guidelines , ”Said a Kaiser spokesman. “We understand the frustration that this causes and continue to do everything in our power to increase the supply of vaccines, working in partnership with the municipal, state and federal governments.”
About 750 of the consultations were for patients aged 75 and over. Kaiser said these appointments “are being rescheduled as soon as possible”.
Another 4,500 visits were for residents aged 65 to 74 years.
“We are committed to vaccinating these people when available,” said Kaiser officials.
“We deeply regret the stress this can cause you,” said an email from Kaiser doctor Rakesh Chaudhary. “All of our doctors in Santa Clara would like to magically fix the lack of vaccine, but it is beyond our control.”
Mike Munday, 72, received his first dose of Kaiser last month and is now awaiting his second. But a friend of his, who is 70 and has diabetes and kidney problems, had his first appointment with Kaiser canceled.
Although he scheduled a second dose, Munday said he was nervous about not getting his injection in time because of Kaiser’s cancellations.
“They are not honoring previously scheduled commitments,” he said. “(It is) very disappointing … I hope they don’t cancel my second attempt.”
In early January, Kaiser began vaccinating people aged 65 and over according to state guidelines, despite health officials in Santa Clara County recommending that all providers inoculate people aged 75 and over due to a lack of vaccine. .
After vaccinating people aged 65 and over for several days, Kaiser changed the course back to patients aged 75 and over. The move put Kaiser in line with the county’s guidance to vaccinate people 75 and older due to a shortage of vaccine supplies across the county.
“As we receive an additional vaccine, we are working to reschedule these appointments, prioritizing those aged 75 or older,” said a Kaiser spokesman. “As supplies allow, we will also try to reschedule those 65 to 74, but we will need a significant increase in the vaccine supply to schedule this population.”
According to COVID-19 testing officer Marty Fenstersheib, more than 80% of COVID-19 deaths occurred in people aged 65 and over.
In the meantime, Kaiser employees are telling members that they can take pictures of any approved supplier.
According to the county’s COVID-19 vaccination panel, more than 167,000 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. About 44,000 second doses have been administered, which means that about 2.2% of the county’s 1.94 million residents have been vaccinated.
According to the same panel, Kaiser has about 2,600 vaccination appointments scheduled by February 9.
More information on vaccine registration can be found at www.sccfreevax.org.
Contact Madelyn Reese at [email protected] or follow @MadelynGReese on twitter.