Jumping to the front of the line
Critics condemn wealthy receiving vaccinations early
The advantages of wealth have allowed some seniors to skip the lines, delays and websites crashes that have plagued Florida’s COVID vaccination process.
The town of Palm Beach, home to billionaires, CEOs and President Trump, obtained its own supply of the vaccines to distribute to its residents, the only municipality in the county to do so.
A five- star West Palm Beach nursing home has invited wealthy board members to receive vaccines distributed to the home for residents and staff, according to the
Washington Post. And some doctors who run concierge practices, which charge high annual fees to provide more personalized service, have obtained their own supplies to distribute to patients.
Dr. Leslie Beitsch, former deputy health secretary for Florida and currently professor of medicine at Florida State University, described distribution of vaccinations to nursing home board members as “really reprehensible.”
The favoritism showed to board members, as well as the advantages to Palm Beach residents and clients of exclusive medical practices, illustrate the existing divide in the delivery of medical services in the United States, he said.
“It’s like everything in our health care system — who has the best insurance, who has the easiest access,” he said. “And like other things in our health care system, the people who have the resources are the people who are less exposed to the disease or less likely to be adversely affected.”
Palm Beach obtained its doses through a program available to any city or entity that can qualify.
Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, said the Town of Palm Beach was the only municipality in the county that has obtained vaccines to distribute to its residents.
He said he didn’t see favoritism at work here. Rather, it was that the town was first to submit the lengthy and demanding application to do so, which requires proof that the town could handle the administration of the vaccine. Similar applications are done for programs such as flu shots, he said.
Although perfectly legal, the exclusive vaccination operation shows the advantage of living in a wealthy town that can afford to offer such benefits to its residents.
“Any city can apply and go through the process,” Radcliffe said. “Palm Beach has the resources to do this.”
Jay Boodheshwar, Palm Beach’ s deputy town manager, said the town has received 1,000 doses, of which about 800 will have been administered to residents by the end of the week.
He said the town was able to get set up quickly because it planned for it and already had the experience and authorization to issue medication to residents through a closed point of distribution, or POD, going back to the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
Starting about two months ago, the town’s fire- rescue leaders set up procedures, obtained scheduling software and trained workers to be ready as soon as the town received vaccines, he said.
“We understand that many other fire departments across Palm Beach County have signed up for the POD program,” he said in an email. “We think this is great! If more fire departments can become distribution sites, it could lessen the burden on the county health department and get more vulnerable residents vaccinated as the supply of vaccines begin to pick up each week.”
In another example of the advantages of wealth in the era of COVID, MorseLife Health System, a senior living center in West Palm Beach, made vaccines available to wealthy board members, even though the vaccines had been intended for residents and staff, according to an article this week in the Washington Post.
The board members, which included members of the Palm Beach Country Club, qualified for vaccinations, in that they were at least 65 years old. But the vast majority of Florida’s seniors have had to attempt to get through jammed phone lines or navigate overwhelmed websites for a chance at a scarce appointment, with many likely to have to wait weeks or months.
Board members of MorseLife Health System, however, received phone calls and written invitations from Keith Myers, the company’s chief executive, to come to the home, which promises “Five star senior living,” for the precious injections, the Post reported.
For example, the Post reported that Robert Fromer, a retired New York lawyer whose family foundation gave $ 45,000 to MorseLife, said he and his wife received shots there in a process he described as well run.
“All I heard from the people who were there was that it was remarkably appreciated,” he told the Post.
The company did not respond to a call left at its corporate offices.
Jason Mahon, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said the state is looking into the issuance of vaccines at that nursing home.
“We will certainly look into the situation,” he said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office issued a statement saying the state was investigating.
“Governor DeSantis has been extremely clear that vaccine should only be administered to Florida’s seniors 65 and older, frontline health care workers, and long- term care facility residents and staff,” the statement said. “We are investigating this situation and will hold any bad actors accountable.”
And on Thursday, Florida Sen. Rick Scott issued a call on Twitter for a full Congressional investigation.
“It is absolutely disgusti ng and i mmoral t hat anyone would take vaccines intended for nursing homes to distribute them to their friends. I am calling for a full Congressional investigation into reports of improper vaccine distribution by MorseLife Health System,” he tweeted.
“This t ype of gross mismanagement will not be tolerated,” he said in the tweet.
At MDVIP, a national network of high- end doctors who charge annual fees to provide more personalized care, two South Florida physicians have obtained doses of the vaccine for their patients.
“Like many other clinicians in South Florida, several MDVIP- affiliated primary care physicians have applied to the Florida Department of Health to receive vaccines,” said Nancy Udell, spokeswoman for MDVIP. “We are aware that two doctors in the network, who applied in early December, were recently approved by the Florida Department of Health to administer the vaccine to their patients who are 65 and older, per the current state guidelines.”
MDVIP’s South Florida physicians charge annual membership fees that typically run from $ 1,650 to $ 2,200, in addition to charges for specific medical issues. The Boca doctor rented a special freezer to protect the vaccines.
Experts say these advantages for the wealthy highlight both the basic flaws in the nation’s health delivery system and the troubled execution of the COVID vaccine rollout.
“Favoritism should not be permitted,” said Dr. Aileen Marty, distinguished university professor of infectious diseases at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.
Distribution should be centralized in each county, she said, with a single phone number and website, and decisions on who gets vaccinated based on their risk and the vaccine’s availability.
“The current system is flawed,” she said. “The vaccine distribution needs to follow the situation in the community, with locations with the most community spread and with the higher numbers of individuals who are at an increased risk of mortality.”