Texas Hospital COVID-19 extra vaccines were intended for other front-line workers

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While it was not planned to get one of the first COVID-19 vaccines distributed in Texas by a quarter of a million, Rio Grande Valley pharmacist Danny Vela thought it would be earlier than he simply does.

He then received a call Saturday from someone he knows at Renaissance Doctors Hospital in Edinburgh, one of Texas ’most affected facilities for the virus this year. Vela is not a hospital employee, but he was told there was a dose of vaccine if he wanted one.

The reason: the hospital ended up with more vaccines than the employees who wanted them, DHR Health’s medical chief told the Texas Tribune on Sunday. The Monitor first reported the lowest-expected vaccine adoption rate.

So Vela, a pharmacist and co-owner of Lee’s Pharmacy in the Valley, and her daughter, Lee’s pharmacy technician, went to the conference center next to the hospital, where there was a large vaccination operation in the lobby. Two hours later, both father and daughter had received a dose.

Vela felt “lucky and relieved,” he said.

Texas hospitals began receiving the first batches of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in recent days. According to state guidelines, these initial batches should be intended for front-line health workers. But, as the actual distribution works, it may seem different from installation to installation, as everyone interprets these state recommendations.

It will be months before vaccines are widely available for most jeans, the state of which currently sets records on the number of people who test positive for coronavirus. Health officials have said people should continue to wear masks, wash their hands frequently and practice social distance. They also say vaccinated people could still carry and spread the virus.

Dr. Robert Martinez, DHR Health’s chief medical officer, said his hospital received 5,850 doses of the vaccine, the same amount as Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, although Houston Hospital has a staff of nearly three. times the size of the valley facility.

Martinez said DHR Health officials gave priority to employees considered at the first level for a dose, such as hospital staff who work directly with COVID-19 patients and long-term care workers. But administrators realized there weren’t enough people eligible for the vaccine who would initially choose to get it, Martinez said.

“You’re starting to see similar figures across the country, all this mistrust and misinformation,” he said.

Initially, between 40 and 60 percent of people who responded to a hospital survey said they would get the vaccine, Martinez said.

The predominantly Hispanic region is made up of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties. Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 68,000 people in the area have tested positive for coronavirus.

DHR Health did not want to waste vaccine doses. After the first day of distribution, the hospital began to go down “down the steps … down the stairs a bit,” Martinez said. Hospital employees called health workers from other medical institutions — such as hospitals, nursing homes, behavioral health centers, and anyone with COVID-19 front-line workers — in neighboring cities and counties. the valley.

“The better here, as far as I’m concerned,” said Martinez, who stressed that “it wasn’t free for everyone.” He said he and other staff members told medical workers they were asking if they could bring relatives who would not.

No one who came in at one of those doses had to prove his occupation, Martinez said, but many were known to the people who distributed the vaccine. Vela said workers recognized him, but asked his daughter where he worked and his profession.

“I had no reason to think there was anyone other than health workers on the line,” Vela said.

A photojournalist working at the Texas Tribune photographed several people in line to receive or receive vaccines in Edinburg on Saturday. But one person was state Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. Lawmakers are not eligible for the vaccine in this first round unless they are health workers, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas State Department of Health Services. Lucio Jr., whose district includes the southeastern portion of the valley, could not be reached immediately for comment Sunday night.

The photojournalist also spoke to a man who identified himself as the deputy sheriff of Hidalgo County. Police workers are not included in the first tier of people with vaccine prevention.

A spokesman for the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office did not ask for any comments again. Martinez said he did not know any details, but that law enforcement sometimes helps hospital workers.

Van Deusen said in an email that vaccine providers “should follow the priorities set by the expert and DSHS vaccine allocation panel.” In this first phase of distribution, “the priority is to vaccinate long-term care center residents and front-line workers who have direct interaction with patients.”

Van Deusen wrote that the vaccine is not reserved exclusively for employees of a vaccine provider. “We encourage providers … to contact other health workers in their community to help them vaccinate.”

Van Deusen said DSHS will monitor if concerns are raised about who gets a vaccine to make sure “everyone understands the priorities right now and what the obligations are.”

In Houston, Texas Children’s Hospital distributed the entire initial batch of vaccines to its own staff. A hospital working group developed its own “equitable allocation framework” to determine who was eligible for these initial doses. This framework took into account not only whether someone was a doctor or nurse, for example, but also whether they had a higher risk of death and “the impact on the hospital’s ability to care for patients,” Jenn Jacome said. Texas Children’s Relationship Director.

“At Texas Children’s, we are committed to the well-being of all health heroes,” Jacome said. “In order to keep the hospital open, there are several team members, yes, obviously those who provide direct patient care, but others we need, and who are critical to keeping the hospital running. ”

This could mean an IT worker, for example, responsible for keeping the hospital computer system running, although she could not confirm whether any IT worker received initial doses. The second person to get the vaccine was a custodial worker – Texas Children calls them environmental workers – which the state considers an important priority for the vaccine if it works in areas with COVID-19 positive patients or a high risk of developing the virus.

Texas Children has emailed their entire staff this week, which has given them a chance to get the vaccine. Those vaccinated in the first phase “opted in and were considered the highest risk according to our equitable allocation framework,” Jacome said in an email. He said Texas Children had completed the first phase of vaccine distribution Saturday night.

DHR Health delivered its last dose Sunday afternoon, Martinez said. Her priority, with each new vaccine shipment, will be to offer it to any front-line medical worker, DHR Health, who does not receive it the first time. But don’t wait too long before going to the next person in line.

“Every day I store this vaccine in a freezer there is another person or some people dying,” he said.

A DHR Health employee named Omar, who asked The Tribune not to use his full name to protect private medical information, received his dose the morning before. He works as a medical clerk, documenting electronic medical records of physicians, in the emergency room of Starr County Memorial Hospital, about 50 miles from DHR Health Campus (DHR is his main employer).

Omar, 23, was enthusiastic about the vaccine, though he said some of his own relatives distrusted it.

“I trust science,” he said.

Jason Garza contributed to this story.

Outreach: DHR Health has provided financial support to The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters have no role in Tribune journalism. Find a full list here.