Hollywood power brokers are offering doctors $ 10,000 bribes to skip California’s vaccine lines to get the coronavirus shot early.
A leading Beverly-Hills medical practice claimed it has received dozens of offers from individuals – including entertainment stars – desperate for vaccination.
The situation is so bad that one senior entertainment manager described it as the ‘Hunger Games’ as the rich and famous ‘fight for their lives’ to get the shot and get around the slow rollout of vaccinations in California.
According to reports, some rich and famous have gone to great lengths to skip the line with private and boutique doctors, concierge services, private flights to Florida for vaccine tourism.
Dr. Robert Huizenga, based in Beverly Hills known as actor Charlie Sheen’s doctor, told Variety that his practice has been offered more than $ 10,000 by the elite desperate for the shot.
Beverly Hills’ Dr. Robert Huizenga, known as actor Charlie Sheen’s physician, said his practice has been offered more than $ 10,000 by the elite desperate to get the shot.
The rich and famous in Los Angeles, California, now use every trick to get vaccinated as millions of ordinary Californians wait their turn
“We got bribes,” he said. ‘We see people flying to every location with planes. We have seen people temporarily attempting to enter the health care profession or employ staff in nursing homes so that they qualify for an early vaccine. ‘
Dr. Huizenga revealed that entertainment celebrities were well represented in those competing for an early spot for the vaccine in a “fight for their lives.”
“You can’t really blame them for pulling out all the stops,” he added. “The state and the government have put in place a system that is really awful.”
“It’s ‘The Hunger Games’ out there, ” one entertainment executive said, on condition of anonymity, of the rush to get the vaccine.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been criticized for the state’s slow rollout of vaccines – California’s stumbling blocks include sites running out of doses and an advisor to pause use of 10 percent of injections due to concerns about allergic reactions.
Newsom faces criticism over California’s slow vaccine rollout – the state’s stumbling blocks include sites running out of doses and an advisor to pause use of 10 percent of injections over concerns about allergic reactions. Pictured: People are queuing while waiting for the vaccine at Disneyland in Anaheim, California
Californians 65 and older are now eligible for vaccines, along with health workers, first responders, food and farm workers, teachers, and school personnel.
After those groups, eligibility for immunization will be prioritized by the general public based on age, Newsom said.
Newsom said California has tripled the rate of vaccine delivery and reports that it has given nearly 2.2 million doses of the 4.1 doses shipped to the state as of Saturday. The goal is to give 1 million more shots in the next 10 days.
The governor disbanded door-to-door orders statewide on Mondays after seven weeks because in cases that condition experiences a ‘flattening of the curve’.
Governor Gavin Newsom said infection rates and hospital admissions have dropped dramatically
Many are angry that those in Hollywood’s positions of power are using their connections while millions wait.
“Industry people in these positions should use their power to help and heal the system, not hurt it,” said a former health worker who is now a media manager.
“It’s bad behavior,” said Dr. Art Caplan, director of the medical ethics department at NYU School of Medicine. He said he had heard that hospital donors were trying to use their power to seek early access to the vaccine.
’91-year-olds are waiting, health workers are waiting. Affluent people can easily find ways to quarantine, mask, and stay isolated for another month or two, and more vaccine will become available. ‘
But there are some Hollywood celebrities pictured waiting in line for their vaccines.
Star Trek legend Sir Patrick Stewart received the shot after almost waiting in a row in his car four hours in a drive-through vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 73, armed himself against the coronavirus last week when he received his first dose of the vaccine in Los Angeles after waiting at a drive-thru.
The news comes as exclusive doctors’ offices in California revealed in December that the elite are offering significant donations to hospitals and charities in the hope that they can be vaccinated early.
Wealthy Californians hope to gain early access to a coronavirus vaccine by offering it to hospitals. Picture: a care provider receives a vaccine
Doctor Jeff Toll said one of his clients offered to make a five-figure donation to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the first hospitals in the state to receive vaccines.
“If I donate $ 25,000 to Cedars, would that help me get in line?” the customer asked.
“We get hundreds of calls every day,” Ehsan Ali, who runs Beverly Hills Concierge Doctor, told The Los Angeles Times.
He charges between $ 2,000 and $ 10,000 per year for personal care and includes Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber among his clients.
“This is the first time that I have not been able to get anything for my patients,” he added.
Yet doctors are all forced to say ‘no’ despite the harassment, as the state has strict restrictions on who receives the first batches of its vaccine.
The graph shows the rapid increase in infections between the end of November and December in California. The increase is attributed to what researchers say is an indigenous species of the coronavirus
In California, more than 3.1 million cases have been reported and 36,790 people have died. In less than three months, more than 18,000 people died in the state
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 19.3 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while about 3.3 million people have been fully vaccinated until Monday.
In the United States as a whole, the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations has also declined in the past two weeks, following an alarming spike in infections at the end of the year.
In parts of California, Texas and other states, that wave filled intensive care units of hospitals, emergency rooms, ambulance bays, and morgues to overcrowded.
The newly improved outlook for California nevertheless came as the country passed the ominous milestone of 25 million known infections, with nearly 419,000 American lives lost to the pandemic.
California’s stay-at-home restrictions, one of the strictest restrictions on business and social life anywhere in the country, were activated in early December when the space available in hospital ICUs reached maximum capacity.
Governor Gavin Newsom said infection rates and hospital admissions in California, the most populous state in the US with 40 million residents, have declined dramatically since then, and projections show that available ICU capacity will rise well above minimum thresholds in the coming month.
“But we are not out of the woods,” Newsom added, urging us to continue to adhere to the requirements for wearing masks and social distancing until collective immunity can be achieved through vaccinations.
Stay-at-home rules lifted on Monday required residents to stay indoors for the most part and travel around the clock, except as needed for permitted activities such as grocery shopping, medical appointments, individual outdoor activities and dog walking.
Those restrictions were lifted Monday for Southern California, the San Francisco Bay region, and the state’s largely agricultural San Joaquin Valley. The greater Sacramento area was exempted from warrant two weeks ago, and far north California was never covered.
The governor stressed that lesser restrictions imposed in November remained in effect for most of the state – a curfew at all indoor social gatherings and non-essential outdoor activities from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.