Macomb Today

In Michigan and across the country, there are millions of people who are eager for their turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

But because of issues of supply and logistics, as well as a patchy framework that isn’t standardized nationwide, there have been concerns about people who aren’t in the eligible priority groups getting vaccinated before those who should be first. The ability of some Michigan residents to get vaccinated ahead of others is an issue that can create distrust in the public distribution system.

Some hospitals have had problems with individuals not in the priority groups getting vaccinated, like Hillsdale Hospital, which recent reports say offered unused vaccines to Hillsdale College faculty and staff members who were not 65 and older, which is the population currently being accepted for vaccinations.

The hospital said that it received more vaccine doses than it had ordered, but it shared some of those extra vaccines with long-term care facilities who had not yet received their doses.

“When we had remaining vaccines, we had two choices: leave them in a freezer until the state moved tiers or come up with a plan to use them as quickly as possible,” hospital president and CEO J.J. Hodshire said, according to Bridge Michigan.

The Lansing-based Sparrow Hospital has been criticized for running a limited clinic, which allowed Lansing’s mayor, Andy Schor, to be vaccinated, as well as city employees, before the general public, including those in the priority group.

Community partners -- like the city of Lansing, a food bank and school districts among others, received an invitation for any staff member to come to a small vaccine clinic if they were part of the 18 priority groups, including teachers, police and firefighters, according to John Foren, Sparrow spokesman. He said the hospital put the responsibility on the partner groups to ensure that only individuals in the priority group were eligible. He also said that lab staff is too busy with paperwork and vaccinations to cast a critical eye and serve as the “vaccination police.”

Beaumont Health is taking a a stronger stance against those who attempt to jump the line to get vaccinated. It had sent randomized invitations to sign up for vaccinations to those who have online Beaumont accounts. When the organization realized there was a surge and most of the people who used the link were not in the priority group, Beaumont Health shut down its system and cancelled those appointments. 

“We took the stance that it wasn’t fair to be cutting in line, no matter if you’re qualified or not,” Hans Keil, Beaumont’s chief information officer, told Bridge Michigan. “We’re trying to be really careful and have an ethical framework in that regard.”

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued a statement about the Hillsdale and Sparrow situations: “We do not want providers to waste vaccine and would rather they provide vaccine to someone outside of the prioritization groups as opposed to throwing it out, if it comes down to it,” MDHHS said, according to Bridge Michigan. “No shot in the arm is ever wasted, as getting this vaccine is our way out of the pandemic and returning to some sense of normalcy.”