Stanford's vaccine distribution woes could be 'harbinger' of broader issue, left-out doctors say
Only seven of Stanford Medicine's 1,300 residents, many of whom have regularly been on the frontlines treating COVID-19 patients, made the cut to receive the medical center's first set of coronavirus vaccine doses, some of which instead went to health care workers who don't attend to coronavirus patients and medical faculty who have been working from home. Stanford acknowledged the mistake and "profusely" apologized Friday, citing an algorithmic error, and some of the doctors have since been inoculated, but the mishap has raised concerns about vaccine distribution around the country.
James Dickerson, a 28-year-old internal medicine resident at Stanford, predicted similar controversies around the country, telling The Washington Post that the "devil is in the details." Another internal medicine resident, Christine Santiago, explained that residents "fall in this vague, unclear position" because "we're not fully employees of the workforce," suggesting that what happened at Stanford could be part of a broader issue. She tweeted that the "disparities in distribution" at Stanford may be "a harbinger" of what's to come for "underserved communities" across the U.S. Read more at The Washington Post. Tim O'Donnell
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