State public **** health departments in the U.S. are scrambling to develop vaccination programs but are facing a lack of funds and overworked staff, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Many states can't afford to hire staff and pay overtime, and the equipment needed to refrigerate vaccines makes it difficult to distribute them. Phone calls to various health departments were overwhelmed, people stood in long lines at vaccination sites, and a host of logistical problems made the fight against the epidemic increasingly complicated and difficult.
Dr. Jaha, a health policy researcher and dean of Brown University's School of Public ****Health, said the main problem was that states were not getting enough financial or technical support from the federal government, which should be actively contributing. Hudler, a 69-year-old piano teacher from Florida, stood in the parking lot in line with hundreds of other seniors who had waited all night to receive the vaccine, which she had waited a full 14 hours for,? Old people gathering here in line are likely to break out in a super-spread, and I'm scared.?
There were also people brawling in the long line and chaos outside the library in Bonita Springs, Fla. because Florida is prioritizing vaccinations for people 65 and older, a decision that runs counter to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that prioritizes vaccinations for teachers, medical first responders and people 75 and older.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there is a limited supply of the vaccine and asked for patience,? Maybe you won't get your turn to be vaccinated today or even next week, but everyone will have the opportunity to be vaccinated over the next few weeks as long as we continue to get more supplies of the vaccine.?
Lynn Humphrey, a university professor, said a hospital in Miami Beach finally answered his call, and he dialed the whole 80 times, and both he and the woman on the other end of the line cried the moment he got through. He said: ? It reminded me of the '80s when you had to frantically call the radio station to be the 10th person to get concert tickets.?
Additionally, there were those who intentionally created chaos in the nick of time. A Grafton, Wisconsin, hospital employee arrested Thursday on three felony counts of first-degree reckless endangerment of safety, adulteration of a prescription drug and criminal damage to property admitted to police that he intentionally removed 57 vials of Monad New Crown vaccine from a freezer, which, after it went bad, had to be ? discarded?
McCarthy, the chief executive physician at Houston's Hermann Memorial Hospital, said state health care facilities must develop vaccination programs from scratch, administrators must ensure that people lining up for vaccinations are kept at a safe social distance, and vaccinated patients must each have a 15-minute observation period to prevent side effects.