Unfair and justified – this is how many describe people who cross the line and receive the vaccine before they are eligible.
Many know at least one person who has exaggerated their health or had their boss classify them as a front-line worker to cross the line – experts call hypercompetitive behavior “vaccine hunger games.”
Karla Salazar, a child care worker in San Francisco, describes the lengths that some people will receive the COVID-19 vaccine as “crazy,” including the lie that she is a key worker.
“They say, ‘Oh, I work as a nurse,’ and I take badges from friends,” she said.
On Monday, several million Californians with serious health conditions and disabilities became eligible for the vaccine.
San Francisco has taken a step further, including homeless people, detainees and others in high-risk gathering conditions.
But as the vaccine opens up to more people, so does the possibility of making more jumps in line and cheating on the vaccine.
“It’s a competition and it shouldn’t be,” said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF epidemiologist. “I think people need to consider bigger goals of society, which is stopping transmission.”
He says taking a date from someone who lives in a high-traffic area makes the pandemic harder to fight.
“We don’t want the hunger games for vaccines,” Rutherford said. “There is a logic in this regard and please wait your turn.”
Some agree.
“It’s not fair,” Tani Beccaria Mochizuki of San Francisco soon said. “People who really need a vaccine deserve it first.”
While others say that vaccinating anyone will help us reach the herd’s immunity.
“You know what? The more people get vaccinated, that’s the most important thing,” said Shawn Gupta of San Francisco. “Better for all of us, so let’s do it.”
The city of San Francisco requires everyone to tick a box and sign their name swearing they are eligible for the vaccine, but some say that simply based on people’s honesty, it is too easy to deceive the system.
Below is more information from the COVID Command Center in San Francisco
We have advised all San Francisco vaccination providers with the following instructions on eligibility verification:
- Use reasonable processes to verify that people applying for vaccination meet the eligibility criteria, while avoiding overly burdensome documentation requirements that create barriers to vaccination.
- Workers in different job sectors differ in the available documentation that could check their employment status. Providers may adopt methods that include, but are not limited to, the verification of work identification badges, pay slips, or letters from employers, recognizing that in some circumstances it may be more feasible as well as fairer to rely on obtaining the attestation signed by the vaccine labor sector.
- Ultimately, it is up to the vaccinating entity to decide on the appropriate eligibility process, however, vaccination sites serving disproportionately affected populations and communities of COVID19 should ensure that access to vaccines is low.
- This Communication will be updated if additional eligibility guidance is published by the CDPH.