Three San Francisco Bay Area counties have suspended COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to One Medical offices after private health care provider allowed ineligible people to line up for vaccines, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.
According to the Chronicle, San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties have stopped sending vaccine doses to One Medical and are looking to return more than 1,600 doses. NBC Bay Area later confirmed the report.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has investigated complaints that the company provided vaccines to people who did not meet the state’s early eligibility criteria, the report said, and the company’s response indicated that indeed ineligible people had been vaccinated ahead of time. their.
California has vaccinated only people over the age of 65, as well as health care and other essential workers. The early supply shortage has forced some local health agencies to limit vaccinations to those over 75 or health workers.
In a letter to the directors of One Medical, the San Francisco Department of Health called for the immediate return of 1,600 doses of vaccine because they could not verify the eligibility of some vaccine recipients. The doses had been reserved for “other uses,” the letter said, which had not been authorized by the health department. The company was allowed to keep enough doses to provide a second photo for those who had already received a single photo.
San Mateo and Alameda County officials also found discrepancies, the Chronicle reported, and cut off their allocations.
NPR reported earlier Wednesday that One Medical was violating local regulations by allowing people to cut the vaccination line in several states, including employees who had nothing to do with the public. Forbes reported similar statements earlier this month.
In a statement to MarketWatch, One Medical said: “Any claims that we generally and knowingly ignore eligibility guidelines are in direct contradiction to our actual approach to vaccine administration.
“Recent media reports about One Medical perpetuate dangerous misconceptions about our COVID-19 vaccine protocols and, more importantly, challenged our company’s values in our efforts to work with health officials across the country to administer COVID vaccines. -19. While this type of reporting is daunting for our team members who have worked tirelessly nights and weekends to meet the complexities and challenges of vaccine launch, we remain dedicated to serving our communities and hope that this report will not hinder our ability to continue this work. vital, “the company said, adding that 96% of those vaccinated had eligibility documentation and the other 4%” were vaccinated according to zero waste protocols. “
One Medical is a member-based health clinic with offices in 12 major markets and works with more than 7,000 companies. In November, One Medical reported more than 511,000 members.
Shares of parent company One Medical 1Life Healthcare Inc. ONEM,
it fell by more than 4% on Wednesday. Since it went public in January 2020, its shares have risen 126% in the last 12 months compared to the S&P 500 SPX,
26% gain.