Last week, after completing the inoculations of some front-line hospital workers, Jupiter Medical Center was left with 40 doses of a valuable covid vaccine. Therefore, officers offered views to the board of directors of South Florida hospital and the spouse over the age of 65.
But that decision sparked uproar among staff who were left unvaccinated, including those at one of the hospital’s emergency care clinics, or who believe the hospital was favoring wealthy attackers before all its staff were protected, according to a hospital employee who spoke of the condition of not being named.
This move prompted dozens of calls from donors wanting to get vaccinated.
The hospital received 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine two days before Christmas, less than half of what it asked of the state to cover its staff. Officials prioritized the delivery of the vaccine to front-line medical workers who requested it, performing inoculations on Christmas Eve or holiday weekends.
Patti Patrick, vice-president of the hospital, said the hospital has taken appropriate action in its offerings of the vaccine, which has a short shelf life once filters are opened. Neither she nor other administrators who do not work directly with patients were included in this first round of photographs.
“This was a simple way to move 40 doses very quickly” before it ruined, she said.
She also said that all front-line staff from the health system, including the clinics, were given the opportunity to receive the photographs.
Jupiter is not the only hospital in the country with questions about how it will handle the vaccines. The initial rollout – aimed at health care workers and nursing home residents – has been uneven at best due to a lack of a federal strategy on how it should operate , with states, hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies often making decisions on their own about who gets the vaccine and when.
In some hospitals, administrators and other staff who have no contact with patients or who have no risk at work from the virus get shots, while patients – and even front – line staff – which is at higher risk for passing covid problems. Some administrators who have worked remotely throughout the pandemic have been vaccinated, particularly at hospitals that have decided to allocate doses according to age group rather than risk of exposure.
Although states and federal health agencies have issued broad guidelines on how they can prioritize who gets the vaccine, in practice the main control of the vaccine and where the distribution of the vaccine was handled.
Stanford Health Care in California had to rework their priority list after complaints from frontline doctors in training who said they were unfairly neglected while the vaccine was given to a faculty who did not do not see patients regularly. (Age was the important factor in the university’s algorithm.)
Congress members have called for an investigation following media reports that MorseLife Health System, a nonprofit organization that operates a supported nursing home and living facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, provides vaccines and members of a country club that brought thousands of dollars to health. company.
At least three other South Florida hospital systems – Jackson Health, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Baptist Health – have offered donors vaccinations in advance to the general public, while administering the images to front workers, the Miami Herald reported.
Like Jupiter Medical, the hospitals claim that the pictures offered were 65 and older, as state officials prioritized.
Problems with hospital staff
An advisory board for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first identified hospitals and nursing homes to get covid vaccines because their staff and residents were considered the most at risk, and most some states have followed that recommendation. But in many cases, the health institutions have received less than expected demand from employees, some of whom are willing to fire voluntarily.
Moreover, the future of the promised vessels was not anticipated. While the federal government approved the first covid vaccine on Dec. 14, some hospitals did not receive lots until after Christmas.
That was the case at Hendry Regional Medical Center in Clewiston, Florida, which received 300 doses from the state. The hospital vaccinated 30 of its 285 employees between Dec. 28 and Jan. 5, said RD Williams, its chief executive. Some employees would prefer to wait until after the New Year’s weekend without worrying about side effects, he said.
Vaccination has been reported to usually cause pain at the injection site and sometimes cause fever, lethargy or headache. The reactions usually last no longer than a few days.
“I’m pleased with the way it’s going so far,” said Williams. “I know a lot of our staff want to be vaccinated, but I don’t see it as a panacea that they have to today, “he said, noting that workers already have masks and gloves to protect themselves from the virus.
The hospital is also trying to coordinate vaccine records so that 10 people each time get the picture to make sure none of the medication is consumed after the multidose filters melt. Once the vaccine has melted, it must be used within hours to maintain effectiveness.
As of Jan. 6, Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC, had vaccinated just over 900 health workers since the first dose reached Dec. 14. It has received 3,000 doses.
Success is limited by trust among vaccinated staff and a lack of trained staff to administer it, CEO Anita Jenkins said.
“We still have a hospital to run and we have patients in the hospital with heart attack and other conditions, and we don’t have extra staff to run the vaccine clinics,” she said.
While some hospitals only offer the vaccine to frontline workers who interact with patients, Howard will be available to everyone, including public relations workers. , cafe staff and administrators. Jenkins defended the move because, she said, this is the best way to protect the entire hospital.
She noted that staff such as information technology workers who do not see patients may be around doctors and nurses who do. “Working in a hospital, almost everyone runs into patients just walking down the aisle,” she said.
At Eisenhower Health, a nonprofit hospital based in Rancho Mirage, California, 2,300 of the 5,000 employees received the vaccine.
“Our biggest challenge is managing our current patient numbers and staffing demands in our emergency and urgent care areas whilst also seeking to ensure that facilities are We have enough staff to operate the vaccine clinics, “said spokesman Lee Rice.
Unbalanced system of unstable circulation
Arthur Caplan, a biologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said hospitals should not protect board members ahead of hospital staff unless those people play a critical role in them. to run the hospital.
“That’s like me, jumping to the end of the line and trying to reward those who could be donors,” he said. But he acknowledged that hospital vaccination systems are not always reasonable or fair.
Covid vaccines need to be available as soon as possible, he said, but hospitals can only give them to people who have contact with them.
Caplan noted that he received the vaccine at an outpatient site outside NYU last week, even though his primary care physician has not yet received the vaccine because he does not have the clinic. have received any doses.
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