Vaccine hunters scour the Internet and await leftover vaccines

Boston Globe: The race for vaccine hunters for remaining doses highlights the rise of the gray market

The public’s growing anxiety about getting an injection of COVID-19 has spawned a gray market for vaccinations in Massachusetts, in which people who appear in the right place at the right time can receive their dose, although they are not yet eligible. The long line winding through the clinic at the DoubleTree Hotel in Danvers on Wednesday underscored the growing number of vaccine hunters looking for vaccines. People rushed to the hotel after reports circulated of “extra” doses. (Lazar, 2/11)

NBC News: They are chasing the dream of receiving a vaccine against Covid-19

For this vaccine hunter, the second time was charm. In her first attempt to get an injection of Covid-19 last month, Leah Robson, 28, arrived at a Los Angeles city park at 4 am, waited all day with hundreds of other candidates and ended up going to home without vaccination. She tried again the next day, at 2:30 am, at the Complexo Esportivo Balboa, in the neighborhood of Encino, and found six people already ahead of her in the queue. But this time, after another wait all day, she got her chance. (Moschella and Siemaszko, 02/11)

AP: 1 in 37 North Carolina vaccine recipients live outside the state

When Ottis Grimes tried to call a hotline after the state opened vaccines for the elderly last month, he was faced with an endless supply of music while he waited. Frustrated with the appointment scheduling process, the retired banker who lives in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, but still goes to the doctor in North Carolina, took advantage of an offer to get the vaccine across the state border. After receiving a message from Atrium Health in Charlotte notifying him that he was eligible for the vaccine, he immediately asked his daughter, who understands the computer, to register him online. … Grimes is among the more than 27,000 out-of-state residents who crossed the border into North Carolina to get vaccinated, state health officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Several other states allow people to cross borders to take pictures. (Anderson and Liu, 2/12)

Stateline: scammers take advantage of the frustration of the chaos of vaccine launch

People in Chicago are reporting calls offering a vaccine appointment – if they provide you with a prepaid gift card, your Social Security number and other personal information. And in Colorado, scammers are using party invitation software and dark web sites to offer fake vaccine markings – for a small fee, of course. Americans are desperate to get COVID-19 vaccines, but supplies are in short supply and distribution has been chaotic and confusing. This combination created a great opportunity for scammers who want to separate customers from their money or personal information. (Povich, 2/11)

ABC News: Feds Bust Group that allegedly tried to replicate the COVID-19 vaccine website

Two men and a woman were charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine website. According to an unsealed statement on Thursday, Olakitan Oluwalade, Odunayo Baba Oluwalad and Kelly Lamont Williams fraudulently replicated Moderna’s website, claiming to sell the company’s vaccine. (Barr, 2/11)

In other news about who is taking the photo –

NBC News: Can a home site save lost vaccines? These guys want to try

Jimmy Chion’s home site offers a simple solution to the Covid-19 vaccine waste problem: a unique destination to place people anywhere in the U.S. with overdoses or nearly spoiled near them. It is an attractive proposal. For many Americans, finding a vaccination appointment means browsing through a maze of government websites and phone lines in the hope of getting a place to be routinely told to check back later. Efforts to set up meetings for older relatives have frustrated even people who know about technology. (Abbuzzese, 2/11)

The Washington Post: Flood of misinformation about vaccines in Spanish targets Latinos

Since November, Blanca Espronceda has spent many mornings talking to other Latinos about the coronavirus vaccine, recruiting her neighbors in Maryland’s highly immigrant suburbs to participate in ongoing trials. But even as a community health worker, she has her own fears about getting the injection. “What if the side effects make me sicker than the virus?” asked Espronceda, a 36-year-old native of Mexico who lives in Hyattsville. “What if I waited a year, just to make sure it works?” (Armus, 2/11)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Black Hispanic residents getting slower vaccine in Wisconsin

More than 10% of whites in Wisconsin were vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to about 3% of black and Hispanic residents, according to new data published by the state’s Department of Health Services on Thursday. The data adds more transparency to the state’s performance in vaccinating residents against COVID-19. The department is now also including data on county-level vaccinations in its vaccine panel. It also shows stark imbalances between regions and races. (Spicuzza, Dirr and Fauber, 2/11)

KHN: Vaccine Equity Is ‘North Star,’ Feds Say, And Clinics Are Key To Fair Distribution

Mary Barnett is one of about a dozen elderly people who received the covid-19 vaccine on a recent morning at Neighborhood Health, a clinic located in a large public housing development on the south side of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. “Is my time over, baby?” Barnett, 74, asked a nurse, after she waited 15 minutes to make sure she didn’t have an allergic reaction. Barnett, who uses a wheelchair, was in no great hurry. But his nephew was waiting outside, and he needed to get to work. “Uber, I’m ready,” she joked, calling him. “Let’s go.” (Farmer, 02/11)