Slow shots could cause sanctions
States including New York and Florida may sanction hospitals that fail to administer COVID-19 vaccines quickly enough, officials said.
In a letter Sunday, New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker warned that hospitals that do not use their coronavirus vaccines within a week of receiving them will be fined and will not receive more, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Monday.
“I don’t want the vaccine in a fridge or a freezer; I want it in somebody’s arm,” he said. “If you’re not performing this function, it does raise questions about the operating efficiency of the hospital.”
Of the more than 13 million doses the federal government has distributed to states thus far, only about 4 million have been administered as of Saturday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Hospitals that do not do a good job of getting the vaccine out will have their allocations transferred to hospitals that are doing a good job at getting the vaccine out,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a briefing.
Of the 965,000 doses Florida received by the end of last week, 533,000 doses were allocated to hospitals, which are administering the vaccine as well as deploying staff to vaccination sites set up by community health departments, said Mary Mayhew, president of the Florida
Hospital Association.
“How do we vaccinate the most people in the shortest amount of time?” Mayhew said. “We’re all supportive of that goal, whatever that may involve.”
In Massachusetts, 287,000 doses had been shipped to the state as of Monday night, according to a COVID-19 Response Command Center spokeswoman.
“The center works closely and in collaboration with hospitals to ensure the effective distribution and administration of the vaccinations to
ensure that they are utilized,” she said in a statement.
“The vaccine distribution process represents a historic and complex endeavor for our hospitals, but they have not missed a beat,” said Valerie Fleishman, Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association senior vice president and chief innovation officer. “As doses continue to roll in,” she said, “health care organizations are working around the clock to educate their employees, address workers’ concerns, and administer the vaccine as efficiently as possible.”