These 'vaccine hunters' are getting their shots ahead of schedule by gaming the system

[riversedge]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: CNN




Updated 2:54 PM ET, Mon February 1, 2021

(CNN)If she'd waited to get vaccinated until it was her "tier's" turn, Isabela Medina wouldn't have gotten the Covid-19 vaccine until late summer.

She wasn't willing to wait.

Medina, a healthy 25-year-old, moved across the country to live with her parents on the East Coast after her work in the film industry dried up. Anxious to return to work safely, Medina decided in mid-January to go "vaccine dumpster diving."

Though a dumpster, this was not. Rather than dig through a hospital's garbage for vials, Medina staked out a grocery store pharmacy. She wanted to score a leftover vaccine.


She and a friend arrived in the early afternoon, prepared to wait. A line formed behind them. Hours later, when the day's appointments were done, pharmacy staff offered up eight leftover vaccines. Medina and her friend gleefully claimed two of them.

"I felt good about it -- and better that it didn't go to waste," she told CNN.
Medina is what has been described by many on the internet as a "vaccine hunter," or someone who stalks a pharmacy or vaccination site for leftovers..........

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/us/vaccine-hunters-covid-trnd/index.html

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[Arkansas Granny]

1. I don't have a problem with this as long as it actually does keep these unclaimed doses

from being discarded.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I am completely on board with this! Wasting the vaccine is a terrible thing. n/t

[NurseJackie]

3. I do not find any fault with the "dumpster divers"... the fault belongs elsewhere.

Nobody is "gaming" the system. I congratulate them for their ingenuity... especially if the leftover vaccine doses were going to be destroyed. --- Although different, I'm reminded in a way of the biblical concept of gleaning from the wheat fields.

I suppose that those in charge of dispensing the vaccines could have just as easily scheduled "stand-by" appointments from individuals in the assigned group if people are truly concerned about this.

[SharonClark]

6. People are concerned about it, just not those

who are on a position to do something.

Where are these “leftover” shots because we could use them where I live. Teachers are being forced back in the classroom and there is no vaccine available for them.

[NurseJackie]

9. Better planning clearly is needed for ordering and distribution and publicity...

... those who are administering the vaccine also need to know in advance when and how much they'll be receiving. I fear it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[snowybirdie]

4. This story is so frustrating!

The system in Florida and other states is so messed up. Those of us in the right tier with physical conditions, who are more likely to be seriously sick, can't get it, while perfectly healthy 25 year olds do. I know it otherwise would go bad, but, there has to be a better way! I've seen long lines of people trying to do what this young woman did. Waiting for hours by a pharmacy in hopes of scoring a shot. A spreader event? Who knows? New procedures and expanded shots must begin now!

[DLCWIdem]

5. I see it both ways too.

Maybe those extra vaccines could be distributed to free clinics in poorer ethnic neighborhoods. But they shouldn't by any means go to waste.

[Roy Rolling]

7. The Solution to a Problem They Created

A disorganized vaccine distribution system leads to inefficiency. A nationwide government effort would reduce that, rather than sending out vaccines to businesses that divert a precious resource to people who just happened to be their store shoppers.

The only priority there is $$$$.

I’m not in any favored category but really, why have a priority policy if it isn’t followed in the first place? That makes things more confusing, not less.

[tanyev]

8. I'm not willing to increase my risk of getting it by waiting hours in a line

on the off chance that I might score a shot.

[LisaL]

10. Waiting to see if any vaccine is left is not exactly gaming the system.

NT

[Omaha Steve]

11. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

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