CDPH said Innovative Express Care, located at 2400 N. Ashland Avenue, “knowingly allocated” 6,000 doses of vaccine to CPS employees. As a result, the CDPH has stated that it will recover all vaccines distributed and stored at the IEC.
Innovative Express Care issued a statement denying the allegations, claiming that the so-called misdirected doses were not used by CPS at the end of each week and were administered as first doses to the elderly, front-line workers and other skilled patients. .
An IEC spokesman said in a statement: “All doses of vaccine that were not used by CPS at the end of each week were sent to another eligible patient for their first dose. We have always made sure that there are sufficient additional dose allocations for all CPS employees. . “
The IEC said the city’s decision left them “saddened” and “disappointed”, adding that “CDPH officials have never told us clearly, as a supplier, that we should store vaccines in a refrigerator for people waiting for the second dose.” .
CDPH said it has identified new providers to take and administer the vaccine for those scheduled to receive a dose through Innovative Express Care.
CDPH said CPS staff with appointments on Wednesday, March 24 will be rescheduled for the near future and notifications are underway. CPS staff with existing appointments on Thursday, March 25 and beyond will continue to be vaccinated at the same CPS high school location where they were originally scheduled.
But for Renee LaBuda, it means another meeting fight.
“The second dose was scheduled for Friday, so now I’m panicking and I don’t know what to do,” she said.
LaBuda received a call and received a message telling him that IEC vaccine scheduling had been canceled and he was given a website and a phone number to call.
“I was waiting for 10 minutes and they didn’t know,” LaBuda said. “I said my appointment to Innovative Express was canceled. She said I didn’t know what you were talking about and hung up on me.”
LaBuda said he tried the number again, but no luck.
“I have two days, two days to take them during the second dose, somewhere,” LaBuda said. “I hope, I really hope someone helps me, I really would.”
The Chicago Teachers’ Union called what happened “a multi-level failure on the part of the people who run our school district.”
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Full statement from Innovative Express Care
We do not agree with the claims made by the Chicago Department of Public Health that a misallocation of vaccines for CPS staff is wrong.
We proudly operated four CPS vaccination sites. Since last week, each SPC staff member has been given the opportunity to be vaccinated due to our ability to effectively operate a vaccine distribution effort. CPS highlighted the news of an effective partnership during a CPS event last week that celebrated the distribution of vaccination. In the official press release, CPS officials stated that a significant number of CPS employees have been vaccinated since March 17, 2021. Innovative Express Care is proud to have vaccinated thousands of CPS employees at one of the four sites and many other employees. CPS from the clinic.
All vaccine doses that were not used by CPS at the end of each week were referred to another patient eligible for their first dose. We have always made sure that there are sufficient additional dose allocations for all CPS employees. We received vaccine allowances each week and our intention was always to have a 100% utilization rate so that each dose received was placed in the arms of a qualified patient in that week. Clearly, I took this idealistic view very seriously, which meant that the doses for CPS employees actually went to the elderly, essential front-line workers, and other skilled patients. We have never strayed from our commitment to CPS employees or other qualified people.
The decision of today’s CDPH officials leaves us amazed, saddened and sincerely disappointed by our local government. CDPH officials have never made it clear to us, as a supplier, that we should store vaccines in a refrigerator for people waiting for the second dose. Rather, we followed the nation’s commitment to get as many vaccines in the eligible arms of patients as soon as possible. Our mission involved vaccinating as many eligible patients as possible as soon as possible, and not in the wake of the city’s official political crisis.
To be clear, Innovative Express Care vaccinated eligible individuals in a step-by-step approach, as dictated by the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois in January. I learned with other health care providers along the way, always respecting medical ethics. We have helped many community organizations by proactively programming eligible people living in medically served black and brown communities. Our past history, recorded in numerous media accounts and the voices of appreciation of our patients on social networks, are evidence of our positive impact. The effective distribution of vaccines must be modeled, not penalized.
We have served our community since the beginning of this pandemic and will continue to do so through testing. We are deeply disappointed by the city’s decision to eliminate us as a vaccine provider. Chicago needs more vaccination sites to actually distribute the doses to eligible patients, not fewer.
Full statement of Chicago’s public schools
Since the CPS vaccination program was fully opened last month, we have consistently managed to offer at least 1,500 first doses scheduled for all staff each week, while rapidly expanding eligibility to include all employees. We are deeply concerned about the allegations involving Innovative Express and are committed to making a smooth transition that ensures minimal disruption to staff. We worked with the Chicago Department of Public Health to identify a new vaccination partner that will start running our vaccination sites on Thursday, and Innovative Express actions have not affected our ability to provide meetings so far.
Full statement from the Chicago Teachers Union
After listening to the mayor and the SPC leadership, we were told that vaccinating teachers before returning to personal training was impossible, and then about how “robust” their plan was, we now know that 6,000 doses of vaccine were taken and administered by others instead of SPC educators and workers – many of whom are some of the most medically vulnerable working in our schools. A number of teachers and staff had scheduled appointments for less than 24 hours from now. It is a multi-level failure on the part of the people who run our school district.
“CPS and the mayor canceled the holidays because they thought the vaccinations were offered to our members and launched a campaign of apprehension accusing them of non-compliance when receiving and reporting doses. But this, plus Loretto Hospital, makes two scandals in Before the CPS cancels someone’s leave, they may want to conduct an audit of who does what vaccine doses mean to workers in our schools. The Chicago City Council should also ask for hearings on how the city is partnering with organizations to administer this life-saving drug.
Full statement from Chicago Dept. of Public Health
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), since the beginning of the vaccine launch, has made it clear that all providers receiving COVID-19 vaccine doses must strictly follow all CDPH guidelines and reporting requirements regarding the administration of the vaccine received. doses.
If the CDPH finds out about a vaccine that is not being given properly, the CDPH acts quickly to determine if the distribution or administration guidelines have been followed properly. When necessary, CDPH will discontinue or discontinue delivery of new doses to suppliers that do not comply with the guidelines. When we do this, our first priority is to minimize disruption to the vaccination process and residents who have vaccination schedules.
To this end, today, CDPH stopped distributing the vaccine to Innovative Express Care (“IEC”). The IEC has entered into a contract with Chicago’s public schools to administer the vaccine to CPS employees. The CDPH has since learned that the IEC has given the vaccine to people who are not SPCs without prior authorization. As a result, CDPH will claim all vaccines distributed and stored at the IEC in accordance with standard secure transport protocols.
Based on CPDH’s review of the allocation and administration of IEC vaccines, we determined that they knowingly allocated more than 6,000 doses of vaccine, including the use of the second vaccine for the first dose. This is completely unacceptable behavior.
We have already identified new providers to take and administer the vaccine for those scheduled to receive a dose through Innovative Express Care.
Continuity of operations is our highest priority. CPS staff with appointments on Wednesday, March 24 will be rescheduled for the near future, and notifications are underway. CPS staff with existing appointments on Thursday, March 25 and beyond will continue to be vaccinated at the same CPS high school location where they were originally scheduled.
IEC will no longer vaccinate for the first dose, and people can visit Zocdoc to find available appointments. Anyone is scheduled for a second dose meeting, although the Innovative Express clinic will be vaccinated at a special clinic set up for them at Truman College. These people are contacted and given the next steps to schedule their appointment.
Since we began our vaccination efforts, we have administered more than 1 million doses to more than 200 providers in the city, with a special focus on people at highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19. We will continue to work closely with vaccine providers in accordance with this mission.
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