Many people drove to vaccination centers in Florida, where they were found to be only over 65. Photo: AFP
SAN DIEGO.
More than 53,000 people, including many tourists, managed to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in the state of Florida before authorities demanded that interested parties prove they are residents.
With the change, tourists who applied the first dose of the vaccine lost the opportunity to receive the second.
Florida’s official immunization list said on Friday that 52,385 people from out of state and 1,303 people from “unknown” counties have been vaccinated.
There is no official data on how many foreigners and how many Americans are.
Governor Ron DeSantis set a criterion on Jan. 4 that, along with health and nursing home workers, people over 65 should be vaccinated free of charge.
From India, some travel agencies were promoting “exciting vaccine tourism packages” as defined by the Gems Tours and Travel Agency.
That same week, Argentine television presenter Yani Latorre boasted on Instagram that she had brought her mother from Argentina to get a free vaccination. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CJwj5f0rBMb/)
By this time, word had spread that Mexican, Colombian, Argentinian and Brazilian tourists, among other nationalities, among others, flew to Miami, stayed there, rented vehicles and just went to training to get the first dose of the vaccine.
Complaints from Florida residents increased as tourists bought thousands of vaccines.
Finally, the government decided on Wednesday that those who applied for vaccines and were over 65 must be residents.
The new rule prevents those who have been vaccinated as tourists since January 7 from losing the opportunity to get the second dose needed for the vaccine to work against the SARS-Cov-2 that causes covid-19.
One of those tourists is Mexican driver Juan José Orijel.
CONTROLLED VULNERABILITY
The order in which COVID-19 vaccines are provided in the United States follows a hierarchy of vulnerability and ethical principles.
The first vaccines to be applied this month are for the health sector, especially those directly fighting the pandemic, and for workers and residents of nursing homes.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) establishes stages, and these two groups make up the first.
The next (1b) is “for essential frontline workers”, including firefighters, police officers, agricultural and food workers, postal workers, manufacturing, supermarket and public transport workers, and people over 75 years old.
The 1c is for people between the ages of 65 and 74 and those between 16 and 64 who have comorbidities.
The ethical principles it has established are to maximize benefits and minimize harm, reduce health inequalities, and promote fairness and transparency.
-Manuel Ocaño
Men, 73% missing in 2020
A mother via Zoom; adoption in pandemic
Candlemas day; Covid also hit the tamaleros
LECQ
Copyright strictly prohibits the copying of all or any portion of Excelsior material without prior written permission and without including the link to the original text.