Local officials say that three Bay Area counties have suspended the supply of coronavirus vaccines to a San Francisco healthcare provider whose procedures allow unqualified people to interrupt production lines.
One Medical no longer receives vaccines from San Francisco, San Mateo or Alameda counties, and San Francisco health officials said Wednesday that they have instructed One Medical to return more than 1,600 doses.
When asked about what it did in the Bay Area last week, a medical worker said that the allegations that the company knowingly ignored the eligibility criteria “directly contradict our actual methods of vaccine management.”
In the early days of the vaccine launch, after the company proved that the vaccine could be distributed effectively, the counties assigned the vaccine dose to One Medical. The company offers a free trial version of its $1
However, this month, officials from the San Francisco health department asked One Medical to provide information on how to manage the COVID-19 vaccine, after the agency complained that unqualified San Francisco residents were being vaccinated.
The company’s response indicated that people who did not meet the state’s vaccine eligibility criteria had already been vaccinated.
A health department spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday: “DPH has stopped allocating doses to One Medical for this reason and we were unable to verify the (eligibility) of the cohort.”
Five days after One Medical responded to inquiries from the health department, Jonathan Sears, deputy director of vaccine operations at the San Francisco COVID-19 Command Center, instructed the company to return 270 bottles of Pfizer vaccine, including 1,620 doses, which were listed as “preserved for other uses.”
Officials in the two counties said that San Mateo and Alameda counties had also stopped dispensing doses to One Medical after learning that the company allowed wire cutting.
One Medical is a member-based concierge service that provides physician care and 24/7 virtual care in 12 cities. It has expanded from one location in San Francisco in 2007 to more than 72 locations nationwide today.
California currently allows the distribution of vaccines to individuals over the age of 65, as well as health care workers and other categories of essential workers, including teachers, emergency responders, and agricultural workers. However, initially, many local health departments struggled with supply shortages, which made it difficult for them to extend their qualifications to the most vulnerable groups, such as those over 75 years of age and medical staff.
According to Rebecca Archer, the chief county associate at the San Mateo County Office, in early February, the San Mateo County Public Health Department received complaints from two school districts alleging that One Medical State standards vaccinate teachers who have not yet qualified. Legal counsel.
Archer said that after investigating the allegations, the county’s public health department discovered that One Medical had vaccinated 70 unqualified people and terminated its contract with the company on February 10. She said that since One Medical is unclear, it is not clear whether all the 70 unqualified individuals are teachers.
Alameda County Health Department spokesperson Neetu Balram (Neetu Balram) said that Alameda County allocated 975 doses of vaccine to a medical bureau in late January so that they can provide a medical staff of its members. vaccination. According to the California Department of Public Health, Phase 1a includes health care workers and long-term care residents.
She said that the county stopped allocating doses to One Medical after the company “demonstrated that the number of vaccines they planned to vaccinate exceeded the vaccines of its healthcare workers”.
Vaccination problems may be more common, as NPR and Forbes have previously reported internal documents and interviews with existing employees, showing that One Medical has allowed unqualified people to skip the line up and down the West Coast.
But One Medical delayed.
“We are very upset to learn that the well-informed news has caused the public to misunderstand our COVID-19 vaccine program, and more importantly, it undermines the value of our company’s efforts to cooperate with Bay Area health officials to manage the COVID-19 vaccine. We have been committed to serving our community and hope to eliminate any misunderstandings as soon as possible so that we can continue to carry out this vital work.” “The Chronicle” reporter asked the “Chronicle” reporter last week about their complaint Shi said.
When asked on Wednesday to respond to actions taken by Alameda and San Mateo counties, the company did not immediately respond.
The California Department of Public Health allocates vaccines to “multi-county entities” such as Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health and local health departments based on current eligibility criteria. To speed up the distribution, local health departments (usually at the county level) can sign contracts with healthcare providers such as One Medical and local hospitals.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Health said One Medical has established contracts with multiple Bay Area counties because it was one of the first medical providers in the state to have vaccine infrastructure.
Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network, said: “It is commendable that One Medical has already solved this problem.” The network is currently helping the city distribute the coronavirus vaccine. He said that the company “has the infrastructure to be able to sell quickly.”
A medical company also distributes vaccines in Marin County. Laine Hendricks, a spokesperson for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency received an email in late January stating that One Medical is providing vaccines to people under 65. This age group was not eligible for the vaccine at the time.
Hendricks said the county is investigating whether One Medical has complied with the terms of its memorandum of understanding, which will follow the county’s vaccination policy. Hendricks said that so far, preliminary reviews of the data have not shown “obvious signs of misconduct.”
The county spokesperson said that Santa Clara County gave One Medical about 300 doses to vaccinate its medical staff. Since then, it has not injected the company again, but has not cited any improper behavior.
San Mateo County official Archer pointed out that the county had only received another complaint about improper vaccination, which was separate from One Medical and that the complaint turned out to be a false alarm.
“I think the vaccine story has many positive aspects,” Archer said. “It’s really regrettable that this happened to One Medical.”
Susie Neilson and Meghan Bobrowsky are contributors to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: susan.neilson @ sfchronicle.com, meghan.bobrowsky @ sfchronicle.com.
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