Thread by @tmhohl71

If @NYGovCuomo had widened eligibility first, as in: nytimes.com/2021/01/08/nyr…
Note that this happened on January 8th, 2021.

(1/n)

then NY Hospitals would have acted differently to his prior order of "Use it or Lose it, and Get Fined", issued on January 4, 2021. At this time, hospitals were NOT allowed to vaccinate patients, even though many were clamoring to do so. (2/n)

nytimes.com/video/us/polit…

As a consequence, it is not surprising (and entirely predictable based on the incentive created by @NYGovCuomo) that many academic medical centers vaccinated lower-risk and non-patient facing staff, as outlined today in the @nytimes by @apoorva_nyc (3/n) nytimes.com/video/us/polit…

It is important to get at the bottom of why this occurred and to report this critical problem with a more substantial journalistic approach. I am deeply frustrated with the #VaccineStrategy and utter failure at the executive level to put processes in place for a more (4/n)

equitable approach. The article has many legitimate points - employees of academic medical centers that do not engage in patient-facing activities should NOT have received the vaccine. My comments also do not apply to medical centers outside of New York State highlighted (5/n)

in the article. In hindsight, @NYGovCuomo should have expanded #SARS_CoV_2 vaccine eligibility BEFORE threatening medical centers with fines for holding on the vaccine stocks. We need a public system in place NOW to distribute #COVID19 vaccine in the community (6/n)

and need to focus on high-risk populations and lower barriers to #vaccine access. This was evident months ago and reflects inadequate planning at the statewide level. If we institute purity tests for vaccine eligibility, rollout will be slow, painful and result in further (7/n)

loss of life. Academic medical centers simply do not have the capacity to act as the major vaccination sites for high-risk individuals. I am proud of the many colleagues @sloan_kettering who have volunteered to help with vaccinations. In the end, I share the goal of getting (8/n)

the vaccine into arms as equitably and rapidly as possible. We are doing our level best in these extraordinary times, and working beyond capacity to diagnose, treat, heal, and vaccinate patients. #IDTwitter #VaccinesWork @nytimes @apoorva_nyc