RALEIGH, NC (AP) – When Ann Camden learned last month that her 17-year-old daughter was exposed to the coronavirus at school and sent home, she packed up, hopped in the car and took the two-hour drive to the coast to stay with her newly vaccinated parents.
The 50-year-old mother had been diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and could not afford to become infected. She was also not yet eligible under North Carolina rules to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. So she left her twin daughters with her husband and fled for safety.
In the United States, millions of medically vulnerable people initially named as the top vaccination priority group were slowly bumped onto the list when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amended their guidelines to favor older people, regardless of physical condition, and workers. in a wide variety of job sectors.
North Carolina is one of 24 states that currently place people under the age of 65 with “underlying medical conditions” at the bottom of the pack to receive the vaccine, said Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of the global health and social care system. HIV policy at the Kaiser Family. Foundation. A report She wrote for the foundation last month that Pennsylvania was the only state to make vaccines available to the medically vulnerable during the initial stage of distribution.
When North Carolina unveiled its first guidelines in October, it placed people with multiple chronic conditions at the top of the list. In response to the CDC’s December recommendations to give precedence to people 75 and older, those with chronic conditions were returned to Stage 2. When guidelines changed again to extend eligibility to those over 65, medical students learned vulnerable residents in January that they would be. dropped to stage 4 – to be vaccinated after “essential frontline workers” but before “everyone”.
“When they pushed us into fourth grade, it was very quiet,” said Camden. “It was like, ‘We don’t want to talk about it. We’re just going to kind of stop you there.’ That was quite insulting in itself.
The state’s highest-ranking public health official, Dr. Mandy Cohen, said residents under 65 with chronic conditions were moved downhill after health officials received data showing that older residents are much more likely to die from COVID-19, although she acknowledged that “ age is not a perfect proxy for risk. “
Camden decided not to wait for the state to qualify her. Just two days after she arrived at her parents’ house, a friend put her in touch with a CFS pharmacist in Wilmington, who had spare doses of the vaccine that were about to go to waste. Camden got a Moderna shot in the pharmacist’s dining room on February 21.
“It’s up to all of us to take it when we can get it,” Camden said. “I don’t want to feel guilty or ashamed because I would get it whenever I could.”
Jon D’Angelo, a 32-year-old Carteret County resident who suffers from spinal muscle atrophy, was not eligible for a vaccine because he does not live in a long-term care facility. He said he had jumped the line, but refused to describe where and how he got the vaccine. After a minute’s pause when asked how he justified his actions, he replied, “Justice is more important.”
In response to the frustrations of the likes of Camden and D’Angelo, states are now rethinking their guidelines. As of Monday, 28 states had at least partially opened up statewide eligibility for vaccines for people with high-risk medical conditions, Kates said. Four other states are making the vaccine available to medically vulnerable residents living in certain counties.
North Carolina announced this week that it would start vaccinating people 16 or older with at least one of the 18 high-risk conditions on March 17. And last week, the state expanded its admission guidelines to include people like D’Angelo getting home care. D’Angelo is now retroactively eligible for Phase 1, which started in December.
“I’m glad they did, but the fact that it took three months to correct is outrageous,” said D’Angelo.
On Monday, South Carolina extended accessibility to disabled and at-risk people, and Michigan did so for medically vulnerable residents 50 and older. California is opening vaccinations to the disabled and those at risk on March 15.
In Georgia, the governor announced this week that individuals 16 or older with serious health problems will be eligible starting March 15. Shana Frentz, a 36-year-old with two autoimmune diseases, said she made an appointment at a pharmacy in Georgia that started drawing people a day before the announcement. Before that, she had explored the possibility of moving to a neighboring state. During the months it took her to qualify in Georgia, she said she and others like her felt “ a little bit thrown aside. ”
Maura Wozniak, a 42-year-old resident of Charlotte, has cystic fibrosis and will wait until it is her turn to get vaccinated. Wozniak was furious with North Carolina’s decision to push her back in line because it meant a longer delay for her kids to get back to class. But after learning on social media that she would be eligible soon, she wept with relief.
“They were able to hear the pleas of high-risk individuals in the state,” Wozniak said. “The fact that they gave us a date was very promising. Is everything going to be perfect? No. But at least there is a certain window now. “
Anila Yoganathan, Associated Press writer in Atlanta, contributed to this report.
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Anderson is a Corps Member for the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on hidden issues.