Well being officers ask public to attend their flip, keep away from ‘vaccine tourism’

Some Nebraskans have managed to get vaccinated early by going to pharmacies outside their health district. Here’s why officials ask them to stop.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Health officials are working to contain a growing problem they refer to as “vaccine tourism”.

There are two ways to get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine in Nebraska: through the state or through participating pharmacies that are part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

The state of Nebraska and independent pharmacies have separate online registration portals. As a result, health officials say some people have signed up for a vaccination at a pharmacy outside their health district, a practice known as “vaccine tourism”.

Example: The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department is in Phase 1B of its vaccine rollout plan, with a focus on the 65+ group. There are groups of people who managed to get the vaccine from pharmacies in rural parts of the state even though they are under 65 and can because they are technically part of the Phase 1B group.

“[Pharmacies] Have the vaccine and they must use it, ”said Lori Snyder, DHHS chief information officer. “So sometimes they take in people who are not exactly where they are.”

Health officials are strongly against vaccine tourism as it poses two major problems for the state. The first problem? It is not fair to vulnerable populations who have been waiting for their turn.

“There are benefits to people who have more time,” said Snyder. “It offers advantages to people who can travel. If you find someone who doesn’t have a computer literacy, doesn’t have a computer or a car, it’s not very fair for them. “

Another problem health officials have with vaccine tourism is that it can lead to vaccine waste.

“May be [a vaccine clinic is] Plan to have enough doses for 500 shots that day, but they can only give appointments for 250 because half of the people have been vaccinated elsewhere, ”says Sara Morgan of DHHS. “That only increases the potential for product waste.”

Experts say vaccines must be used within six hours of storage.

Both Snyder and Morgan anticipate the state of Nebraska and independent pharmacies will have a joint system for the next month, meaning people can only get their vaccination shots in their public health district. In the meantime, they are confident that Nebraskans will not be vaccine tourism.

“There are so many great things about Nebraska,” said Snyder. “One of those things is that we’re really trying to take care of each other, we’re trying to take care of each other. A really good way to take care of one another is to make sure we take care of our vulnerable populations first. “That means we’re not trying to find links on the edges.”