People aged 55 to 64 with certain medical conditions are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination at Nevada pharmacies, without the need for proof of medical condition.
The state opened eligibility this week for those in this age group with conditions ranging from cancer to smoking that put them at greater risk for serious COVID-19 disease, a state vaccination official confirmed Monday.
Eligibility has also been extended to those with conditions that only potentially put them at greater risk, such as asthma or dementia, as well as to those with disabilities or those living on the street.
People will be asked to “vouch” during a screening that they have a condition that makes them eligible, but they will not be required to document it, said Candice McDaniel, a state vaccine officer, at a news conference.
“I think it is really important to promote the fact that we are still in a place where we have a limited supply (of vaccine) and we need to reach those who are most at risk of infection,” said McDaniel, a head of the Department of Health and Nevada Human Services. “So, I really hope people will attest to what they really have.”
It would be a burden on the health care system and a logistical nightmare to demand that everyone with an underlying medical condition prove it, said Johan Bester, director of bioethics and an assistant professor at the UNLV School of Medicine.
“It seems to be the lesser of two evils just to have people telling the truth and the few who abuse this system will abuse the system,” he said.
Eligible conditions
A technical bulletin released by the state on March 3 lists the conditions that, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, place individuals at greatest risk for COVID-19. They include cancer; chronic kidney disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other chronic lung diseases; Down’s syndrome; heart problems, including hypertension; immunocompromised by organ transplantation; obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell anemia; Type 2 diabetes; and smoke.
The bulletin, issued to healthcare providers and pharmacies, also listed conditions that could put an individual at greater risk. These included moderate to severe asthma; Cerebrovascular disease; immunocompromised due to a blood or bone marrow transplant, HIV or use of drugs to weaken the immune system; neurological conditions such as dementia; liver disease; being overweight; the thalassemia blood disorder; and type 1 diabetes.
“Due to HIPAA’s privacy concerns, public vaccine providers will not require proof of medical condition to administer the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Shannon Litz, representative for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, by email. “Nevadans are asked to schedule their appointments when they are eligible and not to ‘skip the line’, ensuring that we all work together to allow those who are most at risk of contracting serious illnesses or dying from COVID-19 to get vaccines first. “
But medical ethics expert Arthur Caplan said an honor system would not work.
“Desperate people will lie,” Caplan, founding chief of the Medical Ethics Division at the NYU School of Medicine, said in an e-mail. “People don’t even know if they have an adequate condition.”
For these reasons, Caplan favors, at this moment, launching the vaccine according to the age groups, a system that he described as simpler and more applicable.
Bester sees a shift towards lowering barriers to the vaccine.
“The emphasis now seems not to be so much on trying to keep people away, but on encouraging more and more people to come for vaccination,” he said, suggesting that the vaccine has become more available.
Nevada’s weekly vaccine allocation has increased to about 70,000 first doses, from 47,000 a month ago, according to CDC data.
The state estimates that there are about 290,000 people in Nevada with underlying illnesses aged 55 to 64, about three-quarters of them in Clark County, said Litz. Not everyone, however, will opt for vaccination.
Last week, as Clark County’s vaccine nominations were not met, eligibility in the county was extended to tens of thousands of hospitality workers, including casino workers, as well as those in the food service industry.
Vaccination appointments can be made at local pharmacies for people aged 55 to 64 with underlying health problems. The Immunize Nevada website, nvcovidfighter.org, provides the following links for scheduling appointments with a pharmacy:
Albertson’s: https://www.albertsons.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html
CVS: https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine?icid=cvs-home-hero1-link2-coronavirus-vaccine
Smith’s: https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/rx/covid-eligibility
Vons: https://www.vons.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html
Walgreens: www.walgreens.com/schedulevaccine
Walmart / Sam’s Club: https://www.walmart.com/cp/1228302
Contact Mary Hynes at [email protected]. follow @ MaryHynes1 on twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Michael Scott Davidson contributed to this report.