Rich try to jump lines for vaccine

The rich and powerful are trying to wield their wealth to get priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new report.

One prosperous patient offered five figures to jump the line at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a doctor told the Los Angeles Times.

“If I donate $25,000 to Cedars, would that help me get in line?” the unidentified patient asked Dr. Jeff Toll, who recounted the offensive offer to the newspaper.

The concierge doctor with admitting privileges at Cedars said he firmly told the patient no.

“People are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars,” said Toll, whose personalized practice starts at $5,000 a year and can go as high as $25,000.

“We get hundreds of calls every single day,” Dr. Ehsan Ali, who runs Beverly Hills Concierge Doctor, told The Times.

His well-heeled Hollywood clientele, which includes Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, pay between $2,000 and $10,000 a year for concierge care.

“This is the first time where I have not been able to get something for my patients,” he said.

One unidentified doctor told the Times that some Hollywood heavyweights are using their assistants to hunt for a VIP back door.

“Their people are calling me literally every day,” the doctor reportedly said. “They don’t want to wait.”

At the moment, Pfizer and Moderna, whose vaccine gained the FDA’s approval for emergency use on Friday, are not directly distributing doses to doctors and private citizens. Government officials are still controlling the flow and prioritizing front line medical workers and nursing home residents.

When the supply opens up to the general population, that’s when wealthy patients likely will have a legal leg up, the Times reported.

“As soon as we heard about the vaccine coming to market, we started looking for freezers,” Andrew Olanow, co-founder of concierge practice Sollis Health, told the Times.

He said Sollis Health ordered six ultra-low temperature freezers at about $5,000 each about six weeks ago, shortly before “larger governmental orders” sucked up much of the remaining supply. The freezers are necessary to effectively stock the vaccines, especially Pfizer’s, which requires a South Polestyle deep freeze.