(NEXSTAR) - Concierge health care provider One Medical is losing vaccine allocations from California and Washington state for reportedly vaccinating ineligible people, including those with connections to company leaders.
NPR reported Wednesday that One Medical, a subscription-based health care service, allowed those with connections to company leadership as well as ineligible subscribers to skip the COVID-19 vaccine line.
The issues reportedly occurred in multiple states, including California and Washington.
The San Francisco Public Health Department directed the company to return 270 vials of the Pfizer vaccine, containing over 1,600 doses.
The county said that the organization had inoculated those that didn't meet the state's vaccine eligibility criteria, according to the Chronicle.
The Washington State Health Department told NPR it had also stopped allocating vaccines to the company.
In response to a request for comment, One Medical linked to this statement.
The statement, in part, reads:
"Any assertions that we broadly and knowingly disregard eligibility guidelines are in direct contradiction to our actual approach to vaccine administration. We have numerous checkpoints in place -- online at the time of appointment booking, prior to the appointment via a labor-intensive “schedule scanning” process, and in-person verification at the point of care as needed-- to mitigate abuse of our vaccine booking system. We routinely turn people away who do not meet eligibility criteria. Our data currently shows nationally 96% of individuals vaccinated by One Medical have eligibility documentation and the remaining 4% generally were vaccinated in accordance with zero wastage protocols."
The San Francisco-based company has locations across the country. It costs $199 to join.
Currently, California is vaccinating health care workers, long-term care residents, individuals over 65 years of age and those who work in agriculture and food, education and child care and emergency services.
Washington is vaccinating anyone 65 years and older, health care workers, first responders, people who live in long-term care facilities, those who live in multigenerational households and workers "in health settings who are at risk of COVID-19."
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3kpXC4j
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