’Vaccine tourism’: tens of thousands of Americans cross state lines for injections | US healthcare | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/31/us-vaccine-tourism-state-borders-covid-19-shots
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Travel between jurisdictions creates ‘unfair opportunities’ and disrupts infrastructure, experts say – though the impulse may be understandable
With more than 50 unique vaccination plans across the United States, one’s access to the Covid-19 vaccine depends in large part on where one lives. In Wisconsin, mink farmers are being considered for the next phase of vaccine prioritization. In New Jersey, smokers can get priority access to the vaccine. In Colorado, journalists fall under the category of frontline workers. This complex system has given rise to a new type of pandemic travel – dubbed “vaccine tourism” – in which people cross state or even country lines to get earlier access. Without standardized protocol, and because of the fractured American health system, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people have gotten vaccines outside their home states.
“They are coming from Canada, Brazil, New York, Georgia, folks from Minneapolis have come here. Some friends of mine in St Petersburg [Florida] told me that they were in a vaccination line with people from Venezuela,” said Dr Jay Wolfson, a professor of public health at the University of South Florida. He credits advertisements from international travel agencies with at least part of the vaccine tourist influx. “I get calls all the time from people saying, ‘Jay, can you get me in someplace?’ – and I can’t. And I won’t.”
Florida has been one of the most popular vaccine tourism destinations for domestic and international travelers alike, due to the state’s initial policy of vaccinating anyone over the age of 65 years old. The state recently implemented new ID rules in an attempt to direct more vaccines to Florida residents, but not before about 50,000 out-of-state recipients got a dose. Though some of these vaccine recipients are seasonal state residents, or snowbirds, whose decision to spend the winter in Florida was unrelated to their vaccination prospects, many thousands have come to the state just for a shot.The 50,000 doses represent only about 3.4% of the total vaccinations administered in Florida, but even a small percentage going to out-of-state recipients in any state can affect the entire country’s vaccination infrastructure.
“Administering a vaccine dose involves appointments, involves needles, involves human resources. And all of those resources that are vehicles for delivering doses of the vaccine are tied to a local community, state, or city in terms of allocation,” said Dr Kyle Ferguson, a postdoctoral fellow in the division of medical ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.Cities and states generally receive batches of the vaccine from the federal government based on the adult population in the area and plan their distribution strategy accordingly. When someone crosses city, state, or national lines to get a vaccine, it disrupts the success of both jurisdictions’ vaccine rollout.“Vaccine tourists are using their power to create an unfair opportunity for themselves. There are design flaws that people are exploiting, taking advantage of some soft spots in those systems,” said Ferguson. “None of this should be about worthiness or deservingness, but when someone travels for the vaccine, they’re using resources, both doses and all the delivery mechanisms, that have been allocated to a different community.”
Vaccine tourism can also be risky for patients and healthcare providers. “If you give a dose of the vaccine to somebody who may not be able to return and get their second dose or if there’s an adverse event, who is responsible?” Wolfson asks. “Travelling long distances for a shot, there’s a risk to the patient of not fulfilling the dosage and of not being able to follow up with healthcare providers to have, what we call it in healthcare, continuity of care.” Nevertheless, many are willing to take the risk, especially if they are particularly susceptible to health complications from the virus or don’t have to travel far to get vaccinated across a border.
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