Both were vaccinated, although only one of them is eligible for the priority groups described by health officials in the state of Texas.
“I sent them mainly to get vaccines to protect myself and for the sake of our newborn baby since [my husband] tends to see more friends, “said the 37-year-old woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared public reprisals.
Tensions over so-called “line jumpers” are high as Texas struggles to vaccinate most of its 29 million residents, reduce deaths and hospitalizations and curb the spread of the virus among highly vulnerable black communities, the Texas Tribune reports.
Current state guidelines require beneficiaries to be 65 years of age or older, a frontline health professional, employed as a teacher or child care worker or medically vulnerable and older than 15 years. About 4.3 million people in Texas – or about 14% of the state’s population – received at least one dose. According to Texas guidelines, between 10 and 13 million people are eligible for the vaccine, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Health Services.
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Anton said that if a provider has access to a recipient’s medical records – for example, if the person is an existing patient – they can be used to check a person’s medical eligibility, but providers are not authorized, according to with state health guidelines, to require recipients to prove a medical condition.
She added that the state does not want to make it more difficult for people to obtain the injection, requiring them to bring medical records.
“We do not want to create barriers that prevent people from being vaccinated, and each vaccinated person slows down the spread of the disease and relieves pressure on the hospital system,” said Anton.
While many providers say they believe, based on anecdotal evidence and state data, that most people receiving the vaccine are eligible, they recognize that it is difficult to confirm eligibility and enforce requirements beyond a person’s age when they are not. there are medical records to check. Many qualified conditions, such as diabetes or sickle cell disease, are not easily confirmed without them.
The result is that providers are operating widely on the honor system. And the reaction against an older senator from the state of Texas who received his vaccine before his age group became eligible for reports of apparently healthy young college students lining up for vaccinations on campus with little more than a student ID , anecdotal evidence shows that not everyone follows this.
“The ethical thing to do is to wait until your turn comes, although I know it is frustrating for many people,” said Allison Winnike, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, a statewide nonprofit organization focused on eradicating vaccines preventable diseases.
Quantifying the incidents and the impact of the jumpers is impossible, say the authorities. The state also does not keep a record of how many people are on vaccine waiting lists, because Texas has more than 1,500 vaccine suppliers, each has a different system and some people are on multiple waiting lists simultaneously.
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Anton said that providers did not report problems with ineligible people passing priority groups, but if a provider indicates that they plan to do so as a matter of practice, “we contacted them immediately and explained that they should not vaccinate people outside those groups. . “
Once Texas expands eligibility requirements to include more people and likely essential workers, an expected change later this month, the issue of giving vaccines to unqualified people will have less of an impact, said Winnike.
“As you continue to open it, there are more opportunities for line skips, but less reason for that,” said Winnike. “At some point, it will be almost irrelevant.”
An ‘ethical gray area’
Stories that make headlines in Texas and across the country tell the battle between the qualified and the unqualified.
States like New York are struggling to vaccinate people of color, while white residents line up at vaccination centers geared to communities of color. Reports of people crossing state and local borders to obtain vaccines have triggered repressions in Florida. Social media is filled with personal stories of people who are losing control or furiously complaining about apparently ineligible people getting vaccines while prioritized people are on waiting lists.
Half of all Texans aged 65 and over have received at least one dose, representing nearly 2 million people and almost half of all doses administered in Texas, according to DSHS figures. The elderly, who make up about 13% of the Texas population, are most likely to be hospitalized and die of the virus.
In Austin, more than half a million people meet eligibility requirements and about 200,000 are pre-registered with Austin’s public health system and are still waiting, an APH spokesman said in an e-mailed statement. About 167,000 people received at least one dose at Travis County sites, according to state health officials.
Jumping on the line is “an unfortunate reality for many providers”, but “overall, we are trying to get collective immunity and a shot in the arm is good for the whole community,” said the spokesman.
“We want to prioritize the most vulnerable who may suffer the most from the virus,” added the spokesman. “Instead of skipping the line, help an elderly person to sign up for the vaccine.”
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Registration failures occurred in several states, including Texas, which allowed thousands of ineligible people to bypass priority guidelines and register for appointments or attend major vaccination events to obtain an injection for which they were not yet eligible, according to with reports.
At the University of Texas at Austin in late February, an online registration link for consultations through UT Health Austin was “improperly shared” and resulted in people who mistakenly believed they were qualified and signed up for an injection, they said. the authorities. Subsequently, the authorities canceled most of these appointments.
“Everyone is battling the same bugs in the system,” said Jen Stratton, director of communications for Family Hospital Systems in Williamson County, which has partnered with the county to run a vaccination center. “I don’t know of a single hub in this country that has no problem with people getting links that they might not have.
“There is no good answer,” added Stratton. “We are working hard to ensure that the right people receive [the vaccine] in the right time. And we understand frustration and we understand perception. And we just ask for patience. “
Using each photo
In the face of trying to vaccinate against a virus that killed about 45,000 people in Texas last year, providers are balancing the cost of vaccinating some who are not qualified with the benefit of vaccinating as many Texans as possible.
In some cases, vaccines are administered to ineligible people because providers do not want to waste doses of the vaccine when eligible people cancel or miss their appointments or because not enough eligible people appear during a vaccination campaign. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be used within a certain period of time after the seal is broken.
When this happens, providers have to choose between vaccinating someone who is not in the priority group or throwing away a precious dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is already in short supply. Most seem to be following the recommendations of state and national health officials to administer the injection to people outside the eligibility guidelines if they avoid wasting doses – even when providers face criticism for vaccinating people outside the eligibility guidelines.
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“It’s the ultimate Catch-22,” said Stratton.
Austin’s 37-year-old mother, who feared for her newborn if she or the baby caught COVID-19, acknowledged that the family’s decision to vaccinate her healthy young husband is “an ethically gray area” that could cause reactions from family members or the public if he shared on social media.
“But here’s what I know now,” she said. “I know if I get sick, he [my husband] or my mom could take care of my baby in the same house … I didn’t feel right about the decision. But I was like, I’m going to make it anyway, because your maternal instincts kick in and you’re like, ‘No, I’ll do anything to protect my baby.’ “
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has financially supported The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in Tribune journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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