A Disney worker in California boasted on Facebook about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine – saying she managed to cross the line because her father-in-law is a “big deal” at a local hospital.
“When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think I would receive the COVID-19 vaccine today. But here we are. I’m so happy, “said the 33-year-old Riverside woman in a Facebook post on December 20, according to the Orange County Register.
“Science is basically my religion, so it was a big problem for me,” added the woman, who did not reveal that she was a little less healthy.
When a commentator asked the unidentified lady how she managed to deal with one of the coveted Pfizer vaccines – which should go first to health workers and vulnerable populations – the woman replied that her husband’s aunt was a big wheel. at Redlands Community Hospital.
The vaccinated woman – who posted a photo with her coronavirus immunization record in the hospital – added that the center had leftover doses that would have gone wrong if she had not used them immediately.
Online posting has since been removed.
The Pfizer vaccine can be kept in freezing facilities for the hospital for up to 30 days, then for five days in refrigerators, the company says.
The hospital defended itself in a statement to the Registry, saying: “Redlands Community Hospital has administered the allocation of Pfizer vaccines to front-line physicians, health care workers and caregivers in accordance with the guidelines of the California Department of Public Health.
“After the doctors and staff who expressed interest in the vaccine were administered, there were a few doses left.
Because the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine should be used within a few hours or disposed of, several doses have been given to non-frontline healthcare workers so that the valuable vaccine is not discarded.
But Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine, told reporters that the Disney employee’s vaccination “does not pass the odor test.”
“Nurses, technicians, caregivers and officers must be vaccinated before a random member of the community,” he said.
However, while the CDC had recommendations on who should be immunized first, “eventually, it is still left to states and individual vaccine sites,” said Dr. David D. Lo, associate associate dean of research at UC’s Riverside School of Medicine, at the registry.
A California Department of Public Health spokeswoman told the media that the state was clear about who should receive it first, saying, “Federal and state vaccine guidelines have given priority to our health care workers. front, who risked their lives to fight this virus. from the first day. “