Hospitals warned of vaccine favoritism

Dr. Joe Kanter, the state’s chief public health officer with the Louisiana Department of Health, is warning hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies their COVID-19 vaccines should be for non patients as well as their own patients.
Kanter said such favoritism has been reported to the state. He responded Tuesday with a memo to vaccine providers, cautioning any facility found to be discriminating in favor of their patients by denying vaccine appointments to non patients could face “adverse action,” in the form of limits of future vaccine allocations, legal action, financial penalties and/or other response from the state.
While the facilities of larger cities are having to make these decisions, rural parishes like Evangeline are beginning to see vaccines trickle in, but the first doses are going to frontline workers.
According to Savoy Medical Center CEO Gene Burge, the hospital has not received any vaccines other than those for frontline employees and staff with 1b classification. They have only received Pfizer vaccines committed to frontline employees and other 1a/1b staff. They have requested 500 Moderna vaccines that would be distributed through their rural health clinics in Ville Platte, Mamou, Eunice, Basile, and Elton, but have not received confirmation if or when the request will be met.
Burge said, “When the vaccines are received, each of Savoy’s RHCs will follow LDH guidelines on distribution.”