A 33-year-old Milwaukee Bucks executive and the son of a billionaire received the coronavirus vaccine this week at a Milwaukee nursing home, despite not being part of a currently eligible group in Wisconsin.
MADISON, Wisconsin. – Alex Lasry, a 33-year-old Milwaukee Bucks executive and the son of a billionaire, received the coronavirus vaccine this week at a Milwaukee home for the elderly, despite not currently being eligible for shots. in Wisconsin.
“I’ve been vaccinated this week!” Lasry tweeted Friday after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported it. “My wife got a call from her uncle who works at a facility that had extra doses that would be wasted if not used immediately. With Lauren at the beginning of her pregnancy, we wanted to secure our home and the whole community. it is safe for everyone “.
Lasry, a New York native who is a hedge fund manager, is considering running for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin in 2022. He was also chairman of the host committee of the 2020 National Democratic Convention, which was awarded in Milwaukee but is moved pandemic online.
Lasry, son of Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, tweeted that his vaccination was “pure coincidence, but I’m very grateful.” Alex Lasry told the newspaper that his wife’s uncle, who called for the vaccine, is a rabbi at Ovation Chai Point Senior Living.
“It’s safe, healthy and how we’re going to finally get out of this pandemic,” he tweeted. “As the release continues, if available, don’t let the vaccines get wasted. Get vaccinated! ”
Gov. Tony Evers said during a Friday update on Wisconsin vaccination efforts that state health officials are encouraging providers to use all the vaccine they have.
“They should just have it in someone’s arm,” Evers said.
As for Lasry, Evers said he’s not sure what happened. Evers, 69, said he expects his doctor to contact him to set up an appointment for his first shot, as they were available to everyone over 65 in Wisconsin starting Monday.
He said he expects his doctor to contact him to set up an appointment for his first shot.
Lasry said he did not receive special treatment because of his position with the Bucks, his political aspirations or his father’s wealth.
“This has nothing to do with anything,” Lasry told the newspaper. “Honestly, if I wasn’t married to Lauren, I don’t know if she’d called me or known.”
Evers said he would rather see suppliers administer the vaccine outside the priority stages than let it be wasted, saying the number of doses administered outside the protocols will be a small percentage of all inoculations.
State Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said that sometimes providers can get more doses of individual vials than expected and that no one wants to waste any vaccine. Many providers maintain waiting lists of people they can call quickly if doses end up exceeding appointments, he said.
“We don’t want to miss a dose,” he said. “We need all these doses in our arms. This can happen, even with excellent planning. ”
Van Dijk said all vaccine suppliers have signed an agreement to provide dosing according to the state’s priority phases. If providers perpetually violate the guidelines, state officials will talk to them and they could decide to stop sending them any doses, he said.
“We’ve talked to several places and seen behavior changes there,” he said. “(But) there is no way to control all the vaccines that are put in one arm at the end of the day.”