Covid Vaccine DC- "Separate, but Equal"??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge anyone who is legally offered the vaccine going ahead and taking it. I will freely criticize how DC is administering those opportunities, and if they changed the rules it would apply to me as well. Right now there is ZERO mention of these hospital vaccines going to the sickest of the sick. Patients who are 65+ and have been patients in the last 2 years are encouraged to call for appointment. It's becoming obvious that this is in fact about passing the costs of adminstering the vaccines on to insurers, as recent patients will have insurance on file with the hospital who will submit the claim. Patients who show up at a pharmacy, GIANT or other DC adminstering site may or may not have an insurance card in hand and the city will have to backfill all of that. So basically, if you have insurance in DC on file at a hospital, you get to wait in the club lounge and hop in the expedited lane. Those are the dots Im connecting; have seen nothing to indicate a different explanation.

I don't think it's about the city backfilling insurance payments. It's partly about the Pfizer vaccine not being possible to administer except in hospitals, because Giant and Safeway can't store it. And it's also partly about easing some of the demand on the city portal (and the city-run sites) by shunting some people into a different line.

I'm not sure it's necessarily obvious that the hospital wait lists are "the club lounge" or an expedited line, either; we don't really know how many doses are available at the hospitals.

Other jurisdictions are doing the same thing (also due to the Moderna vs. Pfizer logistics, in part, I'm sure) -- my father-in-law in New York was registered for an appointment through the city for this weekend, after my mother-in-law spent four consecutive days online trying to sign them up for one, and then he wound up getting it from the hospital when he was getting a chemotherapy treatment. (They only vaccinated him, not my mother-in-law, so she'll keep waiting until their weekend municipal appointment.) In Maryland, some health systems are encouraging people to sign up through the health system, others are running their appointments through the state system. If the goal is just to get as many people vaccinated as possible as fast as possible with limited supply, it seems like making it easy for the hospitals to distribute their own allocations is useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying that the city should not take advantage of existing medical records and contact information for medically vulnerable people that already exists? That instead, it should build an entirely new database by combining data from multiple sources and then using that data to contact individuals? You do understand that they are trying to reach people quickly and save resources where they can so as to be able to afford to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible?

The city should follow its own protocols. Right now they are mw3ant to be innoculating a certain group of people as per the CDC guidance theyve adopted, who call the phone line or web site and are scheduled for an appointment. The hospitals could simply be more sites efficiently administering those shots to the people the city has stated are in the current priority group. By the way, Im on one of these hospital lists - I wont say no if called, but that doesnt make this set up right.

Where in the protocol does it say that vaccines will only be distributed through appointments online or by phone? DC is by and large following the tiering, but they've added teachers, daycare workers and (I think) front-line workers. The situation remains fluid as they try to get vaccine out as quickly as possible to different populations.

Are you following the other state threads? People are going crazy trying to register through pharmacies, the state registration sites and the various hospital systems. I am trying to get my parents a vaccine in Montgomery county and it's a mess.

For what it's worth, there are also separate vaccination systems for teachers and cops, who register on their own and go to their own dedicated sites and don't have to use the city health portal, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying that the city should not take advantage of existing medical records and contact information for medically vulnerable people that already exists? That instead, it should build an entirely new database by combining data from multiple sources and then using that data to contact individuals? You do understand that they are trying to reach people quickly and save resources where they can so as to be able to afford to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible?

The city should follow its own protocols. Right now they are mw3ant to be innoculating a certain group of people as per the CDC guidance theyve adopted, who call the phone line or web site and are scheduled for an appointment. The hospitals could simply be more sites efficiently administering those shots to the people the city has stated are in the current priority group. By the way, Im on one of these hospital lists - I wont say no if called, but that doesnt make this set up right.

Where in the protocol does it say that vaccines will only be distributed through appointments online or by phone? DC is by and large following the tiering, but they've added teachers, daycare workers and (I think) front-line workers. The situation remains fluid as they try to get vaccine out as quickly as possible to different populations.

Are you following the other state threads? People are going crazy trying to register through pharmacies, the state registration sites and the various hospital systems. I am trying to get my parents a vaccine in Montgomery county and it's a mess.

For what it's worth, there are also separate vaccination systems for teachers and cops, who register on their own and go to their own dedicated sites and don't have to use the city health portal, either.

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying that the city should not take advantage of existing medical records and contact information for medically vulnerable people that already exists? That instead, it should build an entirely new database by combining data from multiple sources and then using that data to contact individuals? You do understand that they are trying to reach people quickly and save resources where they can so as to be able to afford to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible?

The city should follow its own protocols. Right now they are mw3ant to be innoculating a certain group of people as per the CDC guidance theyve adopted, who call the phone line or web site and are scheduled for an appointment. The hospitals could simply be more sites efficiently administering those shots to the people the city has stated are in the current priority group. By the way, Im on one of these hospital lists - I wont say no if called, but that doesnt make this set up right.

Where in the protocol does it say that vaccines will only be distributed through appointments online or by phone? DC is by and large following the tiering, but they've added teachers, daycare workers and (I think) front-line workers. The situation remains fluid as they try to get vaccine out as quickly as possible to different populations.

Are you following the other state threads? People are going crazy trying to register through pharmacies, the state registration sites and the various hospital systems. I am trying to get my parents a vaccine in Montgomery county and it's a mess.

For what it's worth, there are also separate vaccination systems for teachers and cops, who register on their own and go to their own dedicated sites and don't have to use the city health portal, either.

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

What a dumb thing to say. Of course we're not all equally deserving of the first vaccines. Health care workers all got the shot through their employers and didn't have to go through the portal, either. Are you mad about that?

[Anonymous]

I think given the restrictions on storing the Pfizer vaccine (which mean that hospitals are basically the only places that can give it) and how few doses there are of it, it makes sense for hospitals to give it to their own patients rather than forcing hospitals to create new systems to bring in any DC resident who is eligible.

The hospitals can coordinate it so that people already coming in for appointments can be vaccinated at the same time, so there are fewer random people coming into the building--that is safer for everyone. And they can target the groups that are most at risk--folks on chemo or other immunosuppresants, the oldest old, those with chronic heart/lung/kidney disease, etc.

Until we get way more vaccines, there will be limits on who gets them. This system seems as good as any.

One thing I'd do if I ran the Department of Health is set up vaccination stations at dialysis centers and work hard to get folks--especially folks on Medicaid--vaccinated. Keeping those folks from hospitalization would save DC so much money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying that the city should not take advantage of existing medical records and contact information for medically vulnerable people that already exists? That instead, it should build an entirely new database by combining data from multiple sources and then using that data to contact individuals? You do understand that they are trying to reach people quickly and save resources where they can so as to be able to afford to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible?

The city should follow its own protocols. Right now they are mw3ant to be innoculating a certain group of people as per the CDC guidance theyve adopted, who call the phone line or web site and are scheduled for an appointment. The hospitals could simply be more sites efficiently administering those shots to the people the city has stated are in the current priority group. By the way, Im on one of these hospital lists - I wont say no if called, but that doesnt make this set up right.

Where in the protocol does it say that vaccines will only be distributed through appointments online or by phone? DC is by and large following the tiering, but they've added teachers, daycare workers and (I think) front-line workers. The situation remains fluid as they try to get vaccine out as quickly as possible to different populations.

Are you following the other state threads? People are going crazy trying to register through pharmacies, the state registration sites and the various hospital systems. I am trying to get my parents a vaccine in Montgomery county and it's a mess.

For what it's worth, there are also separate vaccination systems for teachers and cops, who register on their own and go to their own dedicated sites and don't have to use the city health portal, either.

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

What a dumb thing to say. Of course we're not all equally deserving of the first vaccines. Health care workers all got the shot through their employers and didn't have to go through the portal, either. Are you mad about that?

Seriously. Also, PP, you DO realize that the fewer people who need to go through the public portal, the better it is for those of us who do, right? There's a limited supply of vaccine, period. That's the real problem, not the fact that there are multiple systems to distribute it.

[Anonymous]

The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

Right, which is why letting the hospitals contact patients directly instead seems just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

Right, which is why letting the hospitals contact patients directly instead seems just as good.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses above. However, if the hospitals linked their slots to the city portal, that would also be 'more slots for everyone'- it comes out the same numbers, but more transparent. This is from Mary Cheh's newsletter today. See bolded: "A better sign-up experience" for those who who happened to have visited a hospital in the past two years. Huh.


Please see Councilmember Cheh’s latest Coronavirus Update here:
http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=27705&m=919123&t=e9e88f3478ef96a84e6da9a6a941197473e9c0f17a04da6fc6e40bf22670a9a5

Dear Neighbors,

In just a week's time, many changes have been made to the District's vaccine distribution plan. While I was told that there would be a one-time, special vaccination opportunity for residents in select Wards, DC Health has determined that the most equitable path forward—one that targets our vulnerable senior neighbors in zip codes with the greatest risk of infection and death—is to release two batches of vaccine appointments each week: one batch at 9:00 am on Thursdays for residents in high priority zip codes and one batch at 9:00 am on Fridays for all seniors and the remaining healthcare workers yet to be vaccinated.

In addition to vaccinate.dc.gov and the COVID-19 hotline [phone]), there are now opportunities to sign up for a vaccine through the District's hospital system. Please visit the hospital website where you are a patient, i.e. seen by the hospital in an outpatient clinic within the past two years, for instructions on how to register for an available appointment (please note that these appointments are also limited, but senior residents may find this registration method to be a better experience):

Howard University Hospital
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
The George Washington University Hospital
Sibley Memorial Hospital
United Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente members should visit kp.org/DCvaccine
DC Health has also prioritized vaccinating DC Public and Charter School teachers and staff. This will be especially important as DC Public Schools is aiming to significantly expand in-person learning options in Term 3 and expects about 4,900 prek-5 students, 2,000 students in grades 6-12, and 4,200 staff (including 2,200 teachers) to return for in-person learning. I have joined school readiness tours of Deal Middle School and Wilson High School (as I did with our Ward 3 elementary schools in the fall) and believe that our school leaders have taken the necessary steps and implemented strong protocols to reopen as safely as possible. And vaccinating our educators and school staff as soon as possible is a critical component to building-wide safety. It should also be noted that teachers are using a separate appointment scheduling process, so seniors will not be competing against educators in signing up for available appointments through the website or hotline.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is also now in the process of alerting all licensed early childcare providers that vaccination opportunities will become available for in-person staff in February. Including childcare providers in this early stage of vaccinations is especially important as many have already returned to providing in-person care. To help narrow down the the vaccine allocation needs, OSSE has asked that facilities send a list of eligible staff to [e-mail] by Thursday, Jan 28th, at noon.

Changes to the distribution plan are developing very quickly, and DC Health seems to have adopted the approach that spreading vaccinations across multiple demographics and priority groups is the best public health strategy moving forward (as opposed to finishing priority groups in succession). I hope to gain further clarity on the agency's strategy and will push for greater transparency and better communication from them on the Council's weekly conference call with the Executive this afternoon.

Regards,

Mary

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

Right, which is why letting the hospitals contact patients directly instead seems just as good.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses above. However, if the hospitals linked their slots to the city portal, that would also be 'more slots for everyone'- it comes out the same numbers, but more transparent. This is from Mary Cheh's newsletter today. See bolded: "A better sign-up experience" for those who who happened to have visited a hospital in the past two years. Huh.


Please see Councilmember Cheh’s latest Coronavirus Update here:
http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=27705&m=919123&t=e9e88f3478ef96a84e6da9a6a941197473e9c0f17a04da6fc6e40bf22670a9a5

Dear Neighbors,

In just a week's time, many changes have been made to the District's vaccine distribution plan. While I was told that there would be a one-time, special vaccination opportunity for residents in select Wards, DC Health has determined that the most equitable path forward—one that targets our vulnerable senior neighbors in zip codes with the greatest risk of infection and death—is to release two batches of vaccine appointments each week: one batch at 9:00 am on Thursdays for residents in high priority zip codes and one batch at 9:00 am on Fridays for all seniors and the remaining healthcare workers yet to be vaccinated.

In addition to vaccinate.dc.gov and the COVID-19 hotline [phone]), there are now opportunities to sign up for a vaccine through the District's hospital system. Please visit the hospital website where you are a patient, i.e. seen by the hospital in an outpatient clinic within the past two years, for instructions on how to register for an available appointment (please note that these appointments are also limited, but senior residents may find this registration method to be a better experience):

Howard University Hospital
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
The George Washington University Hospital
Sibley Memorial Hospital
United Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente members should visit kp.org/DCvaccine
DC Health has also prioritized vaccinating DC Public and Charter School teachers and staff. This will be especially important as DC Public Schools is aiming to significantly expand in-person learning options in Term 3 and expects about 4,900 prek-5 students, 2,000 students in grades 6-12, and 4,200 staff (including 2,200 teachers) to return for in-person learning. I have joined school readiness tours of Deal Middle School and Wilson High School (as I did with our Ward 3 elementary schools in the fall) and believe that our school leaders have taken the necessary steps and implemented strong protocols to reopen as safely as possible. And vaccinating our educators and school staff as soon as possible is a critical component to building-wide safety. It should also be noted that teachers are using a separate appointment scheduling process, so seniors will not be competing against educators in signing up for available appointments through the website or hotline.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is also now in the process of alerting all licensed early childcare providers that vaccination opportunities will become available for in-person staff in February. Including childcare providers in this early stage of vaccinations is especially important as many have already returned to providing in-person care. To help narrow down the the vaccine allocation needs, OSSE has asked that facilities send a list of eligible staff to [e-mail] by Thursday, Jan 28th, at noon.

Changes to the distribution plan are developing very quickly, and DC Health seems to have adopted the approach that spreading vaccinations across multiple demographics and priority groups is the best public health strategy moving forward (as opposed to finishing priority groups in succession). I hope to gain further clarity on the agency's strategy and will push for greater transparency and better communication from them on the Council's weekly conference call with the Executive this afternoon.

Regards,

Mary

--
\

The reason it's a better experience is that you don't actually do anything, you just wait for the hospital to (eventually) get around to calling you. That doesn't mean you get the vaccine any faster; if you're able to book an appointment through the city's system, in fact, you probably get it sooner that way. I'm also not sure it's worth whatever effort would be required to link seven different hospital vaccination programs up to the city's portal, just to schedule appointments back at those hospitals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

Right, which is why letting the hospitals contact patients directly instead seems just as good.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses above. However, if the hospitals linked their slots to the city portal, that would also be 'more slots for everyone'- it comes out the same numbers, but more transparent. This is from Mary Cheh's newsletter today. See bolded: "A better sign-up experience" for those who who happened to have visited a hospital in the past two years. Huh.

[CHEH EMAIL HERE]
--
\

The reason it's a better experience is that you don't actually do anything, you just wait for the hospital to (eventually) get around to calling you. That doesn't mean you get the vaccine any faster; if you're able to book an appointment through the city's system, in fact, you probably get it sooner that way. I'm also not sure it's worth whatever effort would be required to link seven different hospital vaccination programs up to the city's portal, just to schedule appointments back at those hospitals.

MedStar sent me this message after I signed up to be notified (in priority group 1c in D.C., which theoretically is eligible starting Monday, due to underlying chronic disease): "Thank you for submitting your MedStar Health COVID-19 vaccine request form. We will reach out to schedule your vaccine once you become eligible." That is definitely a better experience than feeling like you have to refresh a website madly to schedule something, but I don't really expect it to mean I get faster service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MoCo site has a county pre-regi and links to hospitals.
Getting on the hospital sites are like trying to score tickets to a concert that sells out in 3 minutes. "new slots on Thurs. at 4:00" Come back and fill out form then. Oops! All slots gone already.

Right, which is why letting the hospitals contact patients directly instead seems just as good.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses above. However, if the hospitals linked their slots to the city portal, that would also be 'more slots for everyone'- it comes out the same numbers, but more transparent. This is from Mary Cheh's newsletter today. See bolded: "A better sign-up experience" for those who who happened to have visited a hospital in the past two years. Huh.


Please see Councilmember Cheh’s latest Coronavirus Update here:
http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=27705&m=919123&t=e9e88f3478ef96a84e6da9a6a941197473e9c0f17a04da6fc6e40bf22670a9a5

Dear Neighbors,

In just a week's time, many changes have been made to the District's vaccine distribution plan. While I was told that there would be a one-time, special vaccination opportunity for residents in select Wards, DC Health has determined that the most equitable path forward—one that targets our vulnerable senior neighbors in zip codes with the greatest risk of infection and death—is to release two batches of vaccine appointments each week: one batch at 9:00 am on Thursdays for residents in high priority zip codes and one batch at 9:00 am on Fridays for all seniors and the remaining healthcare workers yet to be vaccinated.

In addition to vaccinate.dc.gov and the COVID-19 hotline [phone]), there are now opportunities to sign up for a vaccine through the District's hospital system. Please visit the hospital website where you are a patient, i.e. seen by the hospital in an outpatient clinic within the past two years, for instructions on how to register for an available appointment (please note that these appointments are also limited, but senior residents may find this registration method to be a better experience):

Howard University Hospital
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
The George Washington University Hospital
Sibley Memorial Hospital
United Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente members should visit kp.org/DCvaccine
DC Health has also prioritized vaccinating DC Public and Charter School teachers and staff. This will be especially important as DC Public Schools is aiming to significantly expand in-person learning options in Term 3 and expects about 4,900 prek-5 students, 2,000 students in grades 6-12, and 4,200 staff (including 2,200 teachers) to return for in-person learning. I have joined school readiness tours of Deal Middle School and Wilson High School (as I did with our Ward 3 elementary schools in the fall) and believe that our school leaders have taken the necessary steps and implemented strong protocols to reopen as safely as possible. And vaccinating our educators and school staff as soon as possible is a critical component to building-wide safety. It should also be noted that teachers are using a separate appointment scheduling process, so seniors will not be competing against educators in signing up for available appointments through the website or hotline.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is also now in the process of alerting all licensed early childcare providers that vaccination opportunities will become available for in-person staff in February. Including childcare providers in this early stage of vaccinations is especially important as many have already returned to providing in-person care. To help narrow down the the vaccine allocation needs, OSSE has asked that facilities send a list of eligible staff to [e-mail] by Thursday, Jan 28th, at noon.

Changes to the distribution plan are developing very quickly, and DC Health seems to have adopted the approach that spreading vaccinations across multiple demographics and priority groups is the best public health strategy moving forward (as opposed to finishing priority groups in succession). I hope to gain further clarity on the agency's strategy and will push for greater transparency and better communication from them on the Council's weekly conference call with the Executive this afternoon.

Regards,

Mary

--
\

The reason it's a better experience is that you don't actually do anything, you just wait for the hospital to (eventually) get around to calling you. That doesn't mean you get the vaccine any faster; if you're able to book an appointment through the city's system, in fact, you probably get it sooner that way. I'm also not sure it's worth whatever effort would be required to link seven different hospital vaccination programs up to the city's portal, just to schedule appointments back at those hospitals.

It is better, but not easy if you are elderly and navigating the internet and patient portals is difficult.

I was able to get my 85 year old mom (DC resident) vaccinated at Sibley yesterday and the actual vax process was easy. Here's what I did to get her registered: (I have health care poa, and I took her to the appt)
- Sign into her pt portal and register her to be notified to schedule an appointment to be vax'd
- the criteria was the same as DC - over 75. With the additional criteria that she was treated at Sibley w/in the last 2 years. She had surgery six months ago
- They are pulling from a pool of eligible registrants weekly (like DC)
- My mom doesn't check her email, so I checked her pt portal everyday for a week and Wednesday there was a message saying she could schedule an appointment
- I scheduled first available - which was the next day (yesterday)

So I wouldn't say that you don't actually have to do anything. If you are on top of it, it is easier to get an appointment than through the DC portal. But it's still a numbers game, and I am not eligible to get a vaccine. So there's that.
- I had to fill out 3 screens of verification info, then print out a page with a bar code for her to bring to the appt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been told Howard Hospital is doing walk in vaccinations, anyone on the street. Does anyone have any info on that?

I'd heard they're doing it for otherwise eligible people (i.e. over 65s) Not just anyone.

Then that means that someone is taking the time to screen records for eligibility. This whole thing is such a waste. Go first to assisted living and apartment buildings full of the elderly, along with community health centers in the underserved neighborhoods. Put a sign up list for everyone else who lives alone (or go out with Meals on Wheels). Hospitals can use part of their allotment to vaccinate anyone else who comes through their clinics. No need to reach out to past patients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been told Howard Hospital is doing walk in vaccinations, anyone on the street. Does anyone have any info on that?

I'd heard they're doing it for otherwise eligible people (i.e. over 65s) Not just anyone.

Then that means that someone is taking the time to screen records for eligibility. This whole thing is such a waste. Go first to assisted living and apartment buildings full of the elderly, along with community health centers in the underserved neighborhoods. Put a sign up list for everyone else who lives alone (or go out with Meals on Wheels). Hospitals can use part of their allotment to vaccinate anyone else who comes through their clinics. No need to reach out to past patients.

That's the part I don't understand. Why you HAVE to have been a patient in the past two years. I'd love to get mine at a hospital, but (sadly? happily?) haven't sought medical care at one recently. I find the whole 2 year gatekeeping thing weird, and it must be about insurance + admin costs. I'd be happy to supply my insurance. I wish they would just ask for what they obviously crave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been told Howard Hospital is doing walk in vaccinations, anyone on the street. Does anyone have any info on that?

I'd heard they're doing it for otherwise eligible people (i.e. over 65s) Not just anyone.

Then that means that someone is taking the time to screen records for eligibility. This whole thing is such a waste. Go first to assisted living and apartment buildings full of the elderly, along with community health centers in the underserved neighborhoods. Put a sign up list for everyone else who lives alone (or go out with Meals on Wheels). Hospitals can use part of their allotment to vaccinate anyone else who comes through their clinics. No need to reach out to past patients.

That's the part I don't understand. Why you HAVE to have been a patient in the past two years. I'd love to get mine at a hospital, but (sadly? happily?) haven't sought medical care at one recently. I find the whole 2 year gatekeeping thing weird, and it must be about insurance + admin costs. I'd be happy to supply my insurance. I wish they would just ask for what they obviously crave.

Presumably if you haven’t had to go to hospital in the past two years, you are comparatively healthy and shouldn’t be in these early waves.