A Disney employee in California bragged on Facebook about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine – saying she could jump the line because her in-laws are a “ big deal ” at a local hospital.
“When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think I was going to get the COVID-19 vaccine today. But here we are. I’m so happy, ”the 33-year-old Riverside woman crowed in a Facebook post on Dec. 20, according to the Orange County Register.
“Science is actually my religion, so this was a big deal for me,” added the woman, not revealing that she was anything less than healthy.
When a commentator asked the unknown lady how she was able to find one of the coveted Pfizer vaccines – which would go to primary care health workers and vulnerable populations in the beginning – the woman replied that her husband’s aunt was a big wheel at Redlands Community Hospital.
The vaccinated woman – who posted a photo of her coronavirus immunization record from the hospital – added that the center had leftover doses that would have gone bad if it hadn’t used them right away.
The online message has since been removed.
Pfizer’s vaccine can be kept in freezer hospitals for up to 30 days and then in refrigerators for five days, the company says.
The hospital defended itself in a statement to the Registry, saying, “Redlands Community Hospital has administered its assignments of Pfizer vaccines to its primary care physicians, health professionals, and support staff according to California Department of Public Health guidelines.
“After doctors and staff who showed interest in the vaccine were administered, there were several doses left.
“Because the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine must be used or discarded within hours, different doses were administered to non-primary care health professionals so that valuable vaccine would not be thrown away.”
But Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine, told the outlet that the Disney employee’s vaccination “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
“Nurses, technicians, janitors and nurses should be vaccinated before any member of the community,” he said.
But while the CDC had recommendations on who should be immunized first, “it is ultimately still left to the states and also the individual sites where vaccines are administered,” said Dr. David D. Lo, a senior associate research dean. at UC’s Riverside School of Medicine, to the registry.
A spokeswoman for the California Department of Public Health told the outlet that the state has made it clear who should get what first, saying, “Federal and state vaccine guidelines have prioritized our primary care health workers who have put their lives at risk for this. virus. from day one. ”