Stanford doctors & nurses protest Covid-19 vaccine distribution ‘algorithm’ that saw frontline workers sidelined (VIDEO)

After only seven frontline healthcare workers received the new coronavirus vaccine, doctors and nurses at Stanford Medical Center in California organized a protest, accusing the university of botching the immunization rollout.

Protesters carried signs reading “Front line workers need protection” and “Health care heroes, back of the line,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported, as they first protested inside the medical center in Palo Alto and later gathered in the plaza outside.

Stanford Medical leadership responded with a letter, acknowledging there were “significant concerns” but that their plan to ensure “ethical and equitable” distribution of the vaccine had “significant gaps” that they will work to fix. The letter also urged patience and said another shipment of the vaccine will arrive next week.

“We’ll correct it. We know that it’s wrong,” President and CEO of Stanford Health David Entwistle told the demonstrators.

According to a letter the protesters sent to Entwistle and other senior management, only seven residents and fellows out of more 1,300 – including those directly working with Covid-19 patients – were among the first 5,000 recipients of the vaccine.

The Chronicle cited some of the protesters saying that among those on the list were orthopedic surgeons, nurses treating outpatients and a dermatologist, as well as senior faculty working from home since the start of the pandemic, who have “no in-person patient responsibilities.”

“It is important for us to articulate to you that at this time, residents are hurt, disappointed, frustrated, angry, and feel a deep sense of distrust towards the hospital administration given the sacrifices we have been making and the promises that were made to us,” the protesters’ letter said.

“I’m here because we were promised, multiple times, that we would be vaccinated in the first wave,” said Dr. Daniel Hernandez, an emergency room resident who marched in the protest. He added that the school was forcing them to volunteer in the coronavirus ward without extra pay.

Picking which of the 330-plus million Americans get the vaccine first has already sparked a heated debate over medical ethics. While people 65 and older are at the greatest risk of dying from the coronavirus, it appears the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged that “essential workers” be given priority, citing racial disparities.

Meanwhile, the US political leadership lined up to receive their vaccines on Friday, with Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) all posing for photos with medical personnel and praising the vaccine.

Under the Operation Warp Speed program directed by President Donald Trump, the US has developed two vaccines that claim to be over 90 percent effective against the virus, one made by Pfizer and the other by Moderna.

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