Both were vaccinated, although only one of them was eligible according to the priority groups described by Texas state health officials.
“Most of them I sent them to get vaccinated to protect me and for the sake of our recent baby [my husband] tends to see more friends, ”said the 37-year-old, who asked for anonymity for fear of public pay.
Tensions over so-called “line jumpers” are high as Texas strives to vaccinate most of its 29 million residents, reduce deaths and hospitalizations, and curb the spread of the virus among highly vulnerable communities of color. reports the Texas Tribune.
Current state guidelines require recipients to be over the age of 65, front-line health workers, work as teachers or child care workers, or be medically vulnerable and over 15 years of age. About 4.3 million people in Texas (approximately 14% of the state’s population) have received at least one dose. Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas State Department of Health Services, said between 10 and 13 million people are eligible for the vaccine under Texas guidelines.
RELATED: Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says
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 verify a person’s medical eligibility, but according to state health guidelines, providers are not allowed to demonstrate a medical condition.
He added that the state does not want to make it difficult to shoot people by forcing them to keep medical records.
“We don’t want to create barriers that prevent vaccination of people and all people who are vaccinated slow down the spread of the disease and relieve the pressure on the hospital system,” Anton said.
Although many providers claim that, 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 age. of a person when there is no medical history to check. Many of the right conditions, such as diabetes or sickle cell disease, are not easily confirmed without them.
The result is that providers operate largely with the honor system. And, because of the reaction about a senior Texas state senator who received the vaccine before his age group was eligible to receive reports from seemingly healthy young college students lining up to receive shots at the campus with little more than a student ID, anecdotal evidence shows that not everyone follows it. .
“The ethic is to wait until it’s your turn, even though I know it’s frustrating for a lot of people,” said Allison Winnike, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, a nationwide nonprofit organization. ‘State focused on the eradication of disease vaccines.
Quantifying incidents and the impact of line jumpers is impossible, officials say. The state also doesn’t keep track of how many people are on vaccine waiting lists, because Texas has more than 1,500 vaccine providers, each has a different system, and some people are on multiple waiting lists simultaneously.
SEE ALSO: 12-year-old helps hundreds of seniors sign up for COVID-19 vaccine
Anton said providers have not reported having problems with ineligible people exceeding priority groups, but if a provider indicates they plan to do so in practice, “we contact them immediately and explain that they should not vaccinate people outside these groups “.
Once Texas expands eligibility requirements to include more people and likely essential workers, a measure expected later this month, the issue of firing out unskilled people will have a lesser impact, he said. Winnike.
“As you continue to open it, there are more opportunities for line jumping, but there are fewer reasons to do so,” Winnike said. “At some point it will be almost irrelevant.”
An “ethical gray area”
Captivating title stories in Texas and across the country tell the battle between the skilled and the unskilled.
States like New York are struggling to vaccinate people of color while white residents line up at vaccination centers targeting communities of color. Reports of people crossing state and county lines to get vaccinated led to a reduction in pressure in Florida. Social media is full of personal stories of people getting shot or angrily complaining about seemingly ineligible people getting vaccines while priority people sit on waiting lists.
Half of all Texans age 65 and older have received at least one dose, representing nearly 2 million people and nearly half of all doses administered in Texas, according to DSHS numbers. Older people, who make up about 13% of Texas’ population, are the most likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus.
In Austin, more than half a million people meet eligibility requirements and about 200,000 are pre-registered through Austin’s public health system and continue to wait, an APH spokesman said in a statement sent by mail. electronic. Some 167,000 people have received at least one dose at Travis County locations, according to state health officials.
The line break is “an unfortunate reality for many providers,” but “overall, we’re trying to get the herd immunity and a shot in the arm is good for the whole community,” the spokesman said.
“We want to prioritize the most vulnerable who may suffer the most from the virus,” the spokesman added. “Instead of skipping the line, help a senior sign up for the vaccine.”
RELATED: 91-year-old Ohio man recovering from accidentally getting vaccinated twice in one day
There have been registration issues in several states, including Texas, that have allowed thousands of ineligible people to skip priority guidelines and register for appointments or attend large vaccination events to get a shot at which they were not yet eligible. according to reports.
At the University of Texas at Austin in late February, an online registration link for appointments via UT Health Austin was “inappropriately shared,” causing people to mistakenly believe they were classified and register for a shooting, officials said. Officials later canceled most of those appointments.
“Everyone is fighting for the same system failures,” said Jen Stratton, director of communications for Family Hospital Systems in Williamson County, which is partnering with the county to run a vaccination center. “I don’t know of a single hub in this country that would have no problem with people getting links that maybe they shouldn’t have.
“There’s no good answer,” Stratton added. “We’re working very hard to make sure the right people get it [the vaccine] at the right time. And we understand frustration and we understand perception. And we just ask for patience. “
Using each shot
Faced with attempts to vaccinate against a virus that has killed nearly 45,000 people in Texas over the past year, providers are juggling the cost of vaccinating some who are not qualified to benefit from vaccinating as many jeans as possible.
In some cases, vaccines are given to ineligible people because providers do not want to waste vaccine doses when eligible people cancel or miss their appointments or because not enough eligible people show up during a vaccination test. Both the Pfizer and the Modern vaccine must be used within a specified period of time after the seal is broken.
When this happens, providers must choose between vaccinating someone who is not in a priority group or throwing away a precious dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is already missing. Most seem to follow the recommendations of state and national health officials to administer the shot to those outside the eligibility guidelines if they avoid wasting doses, even when providers face criticism for vaccinating people outside. the eligibility guidelines.
SEE ALSO: Residents say Houston clinic charged cash for COVID-19 vaccine
“It’s the latest Catch-22,” Stratton said.
Austin’s 37-year-old mother, who feared for her newborn if she or the baby would take COVID-19, acknowledged that the family’s decision to vaccinate her healthy young husband is “an ethically gray area” that could lead to reactions against family members or the public if you shared it on social media.
“But that’s what I know now,” he said. “I know if I get sick, he [my husband] or my mother could take care of my baby in the same house … I didn’t feel good about the decision. But it was as if, anyway, I’ll get it because your maternal instincts start and you’re like, “No, I’ll do anything to protect my baby”.
Outreach: The University of Texas at Austin has provided financial support to The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters have no role in Tribune journalism. Find a full list here.
The Texas Tribune is a non-profit, non-partisan media organization that informs Texans (and participates with them) on issues of public policy, politics, government, and states.