RALEIGH, NC (AP) – When Ann Camden found out last month that her 17-year-old daughter was exposed to coronavirus at school and was sent home, she packed her bags, jumped in the car and drove two hours to the coast to stay with her recently vaccinated parents.
The 50-year-old mother had been diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and could not afford to become infected. She was also not yet eligible under North Carolina rules to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. So she left her twin daughters with her husband and ran away safely.
In the United States, millions of medically vulnerable people, who were initially cited as a priority vaccination group, have been slowly added to the list as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its guidelines to benefit people in need. age, regardless of their physical condition and workers. in a wide range of job sectors.
North Carolina is one of 24 states that currently places people under 65 with “underlying medical conditions” near the bottom of the pack to receive the vaccine, according to Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of global health policy, and HIV at Kaiser Family Foundation. A report she wrote for the foundation last month, listing Pennsylvania as the lone state that makes vaccines available to medically vulnerable people in the first phase of distribution.
When North Carolina unveiled its original guide in October, it placed people with multiple chronic conditions at the top of the list. In response to the CDC’s December recommendations to prioritize people aged 75 and over, however, people with chronic conditions decreased in Phase 2. When the orientation changed again to extend eligibility to the 65 For years and years, medically vulnerable residents learned in January that they would have dropped out in Phase 4 – to be vaccinated after “essential front workers” but before “everyone”.
“When they slipped us into group 4, it was very quiet,” Camden said. “It simply came to our notice then. We’ll put you in there. That was insulting in itself. ”
State Public Health Officer Dr. Mandy Cohen said residents under the age of 65 with chronic conditions have been moved to the list after health officials received data showing elderly residents are much more likely to die. of COVID-19, although he acknowledged that “age is not a perfect proxy for risk. ”
Camden decided not to wait for the state to qualify her. Just two days after she arrived at her parents’ home, a friend tied her up with a CVS pharmacist in Wilmington, who had spare doses of the vaccine about to be wasted. Camden received a Modern shot in the pharmacist’s dining room on Feb. 21.
“It’s everyone’s duty to take it when we can get it,” Camden said. “I don’t want to feel guilty or embarrassed because I would get it whenever I could.”
Jon D’Angelo, a 32-year-old Carteret County resident who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, did not qualify for a vaccine because he does not live in a long-term care facility. He said he skipped the line, but declined to describe where and how he received the vaccine. After a one-minute break, when asked how he justified his actions, he replied: “Justice is more important.”
Responding to the frustrations of people like Camden and D’Angelo, states are now revising their guidelines again. As of Monday, 28 states, including North Carolina, have at least partially opened the state’s vaccine eligibility for those with high-risk medical conditions, Kates said. Four additional states make the vaccine available to medically vulnerable residents living in certain counties.
North Carolina announced this week that vaccination of people 16 years of age or older will begin with at least one of the 18 risk conditions on March 17. And last week, the state expanded its eligibility guidelines to include people like D’Angelo who receive home care. D’Angelo is now retroactively eligible for Phase 1, which was launched in December.
“I’m glad they did, but the fact that it took three months to correct is outrageous,” D’Angelo said.
On Monday, South Carolina expanded eligibility for people with disabilities and people at risk, and Michigan has done so for medically vulnerable residents for more than 50 years. California opens vaccinations for people with disabilities and at risk on March 15.
In Georgia, the governor announced this week that those 16 years of age or older with serious health conditions will be eligible starting March 15. people the day before the announcement. Before that, she had explored the possibility of going to a neighboring state. In the months leading up to her eligibility in Georgia, she said she and others like her felt “kind of thrown aside.”
Maura Wozniak, a 42-year-old Charlotte resident, has cystic fibrosis and will wait until it is her turn to get vaccinated. Wozniak was furious with North Carolina’s decision to push her back in line, as it meant a longer delay for her children to return to class. But after learning on social media that she would soon become eligible, she cried with relief.
“They could hear the pleadings of high-risk individuals in the state,” Wozniak said. “The fact that they gave us a meeting was promising. Will everything be perfect? Not. But at least now there is a certain window. ”
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Atlanta Associated Press writer Anila Yoganathan contributed to the report.
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Watch the pandemic’s AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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Follow Anderson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BryanRAnderson.
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Anderson is a member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover undercover issues.