New York nurse forced to throw away COVID-19 vaccine rather than giving it to the elderly

According to this story a New York nurse was forced to throw out COVID-19 vaccinations rather than use them on elderly people for fear of being in violation of Andrew Cuomo’s “eligibility guidelines. Here is more:

New York Times reports that in New York, the state is tossing out the coronavirus vaccine rather than give it to the “incorrect” people.

the New York Times had to report  (although it’s buried under 30-plus paragraphs) that a nurse eventually threw out seven vaccination doses after the health department told her clinic it could vaccinate only members of “eligible groups.”

On Tuesday, a health center in Harlem scheduled vaccination appointments with about 20 employees at a nearby community health center. When only 12 people showed up instead of the anticipated 20, this caused a problem. Each opened vial contains ten doses and you have six hours to uses all ten before they go bad

The nurse administering the vaccine didn’t know what to do with the eight extra doses, so she called her boss, who ordered her to go out and find people who were approved to receive these doses under the state’s eligibility requirements — a very narrow list that does not include the elderly living outside assisted living centers.

She hit a nursing home, a fire station, a woman’s shelter, and an urgent care center, but only found one person who qualified, so she threw the remaining seven doses in the trash. She had no choice.

Why only certain people are eligible for the vaccine in the first place is a question of its own, but why elderly people, who just happen to be in one of the highest risk groups, are not eligible is also dumbfounding. What does Andrew Cuomo, whose nursing home policy led to the death of thousands of senior citizens you might recall, have against the elderly? Does he consider them to be useless eaters?

It is simply outrageous that this genius has a COVID-19 vaccination policy in place that would force a nurse to throw away vaccinations before letting somebody he deems un-vaccine worth have it, especially when it is going to take months to distribute the vaccination to all those who want it.

And this is not the first time this has happened in New York, a hospital is facing fines for distributing the vaccine to people Andrew Cuomo did not deem worthy:

The [New York] state Health Department is investigating Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital for violating state guidelines by vaccinating New Rochelle school and city employees for COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] before they were eligible.

DOH spokesperson Jonah Bruno said in an email to The Journal News/lohud Friday morning that Montefiore New Rochelle is facing potential sanctions and penalties.

DOH also said that the hospital’s vaccine supply would be reallocated to the Westchester County Health Department. Later Friday, the county picked up 330 vaccine doses from Montefiore New Rochelle, County Executive George Latimer said

malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium