These new details came a day after the company confirmed to ABC7 News that they fired several members of its medical staff for their ‘willful disregard’ of the eligibility requirements. Several current members of One Medical have told ABC7 that they plan to cancel their subscription after witnessing people in their 40s who jump ahead of the queue.
The counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin and Alameda – including the city of Berkeley – have cut off the supply of vaccines to One Medical.
“It’s really disheartening to hear,” said Andrew Levy, a current member of One Medical. “I have elderly parents who are struggling to get the vaccine.”
Levy has been a member for five years. But now he is thinking about cutting ties with the company.
“My healthcare provider needs to meet my values,” he said. “I find it unfortunate when they try to cheat.”
Another member told I-Team anonymously that ‘many’ people skipped the line five weeks ago at the One Medical Four Embarcadero clinic.
“When I was in line at One Medical to receive my vaccination, there were several people under the age of 65 waiting for the injection and everyone received the injection that day,” said a source examined by ABC7. “They shouldn’t, other caregivers couldn’t, teachers couldn’t … the system isn’t right.”
According to a letter sent to One Medical Monday, the San Francisco Department of Public Health is allowing the company to continue administering second doses to pre-programmed patients, but the health department has determined that the remaining 1,600 doses are to be returned.
San Mateo County Public Health canceled its contract with the company after a constant complaint revealed that 70 ineligible people were vaccinated.
Marin County has provided the following statement:
“We only provide One Medical with enough doses to finish the second dose of vaccination that they must give to the people who received the first doses (we advise residents to seek the second dose at the source of the first dose). However, we have indefinitely suspended any other first dose allocations for One Medical, pending further analysis. We also removed One Medical from our website as a recommended vaccine supplier based in Marin County.
Santa Clara County provided the following statement:
“The county provided vaccination doses for One Medical to about 300 health workers on its team. There are no future vaccination dose allocations planned for One Medical.”
Alameda County has provided the following statement:
“At the end of January, Alameda County allocated 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine so that they could vaccinate Phase 1 health workers who were its members. After that initial allocation, they received no other doses. Alameda County did not fulfilled One Medical’s next order in early February for additional doses, when they indicated that they planned to vaccinate more than their health care professionals (who were the only approved group prioritized for vaccination at the time). We did not allocate any additional doses to One Medical. “
Sonoma, Napa and Contra Costa counties told ABC7 that they have no contract with One Medical.
“Everything that happens to delay the people who most need to get the vaccine is costing someone else’s life,” said Mike Wasserman, who is on the California vaccine advisory committee.
One Medical told ABC News that they have a ‘zero tolerance policy’ for any case of preferential vaccine treatment. The company charges $ 199 for an annual membership.
“We defend our policy that no ineligible employee, member or commercial affiliate will intentionally have the opportunity to skip the line. Any suggestion that there is a widely known and accepted practice of making these types of concessions is unequivocally false,” said a spokeswoman for the company. One Medical.
One Medical also said it maintains several checkpoints where people routinely refuse and do not meet eligibility criteria. The company added that the majority of its vaccination pool does not include paying members, but references from health departments.
In January, Andrew Diamond, the company’s medical director, told ABC7 that he encouraged anyone to apply for the 30-day trial.
“This is like a loophole. If you take the 30-day trial, can you get the COVID-19 vaccine through One Medical?” Luz Pena from ABC7 asked.
“Absolutely. That’s the point,” said Diamond. “Our goal is to vaccinate people as quickly as possible and as many people as possible,” replied Diamond.
ABC7 has requested an interview with One Medical, but has not yet received a response from the company.
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