This secret might score you COVID vaccine in Stanislaus County before you’re eligible
News that anyone 50 and older can get a COVID-19 vaccine starting Thursday is encouraging. Our Modesto Bee Editorial Board only hours earlier had urged Stanislaus County leaders to make that exact move, but Gov. Gavin Newsom beat them to it.
It would seem that unvaccinated people can hold out till next week, or until April 15 if you’re at least 16 and really want one. But if you simply can’t wait, listen up, because there may be a way to get you one a little sooner.
The secret is getting on a no-waste list.
My wife and I, both late 50s, got on a regular waiting list weeks ago with our doctors office in Modesto. And we’d been patiently waiting for eligibility criteria to change, when I called to ask about something else vaccine-related and ended up on a no-waste list.
Health care providers offering vaccines sometimes run out of arms before they do doses. Rather than spoil whatever is left in a vial, they start calling whoever might be on the no-waste list, if they have one, and those people — regardless of age or other criteria — are in luck if they can quickly get to the care provider’s office.
News reports about no-waste lists have been popping up, in Ohio and Washington state for example. Private health care providers can make their own rules within parameters, often encouraged by government health agencies.
Ours doesn’t have an official policy on no-waste lists. Stanislaus County coronavirus vaccine clinics usually have no problem finding enough willing arms for the doses available on a given day, said Erik Klevmyr, deputy director of the local Office of Emergency Services, and unopened vials are simply stored for another day.
Shortly before the governor’s Thursday announcement about expanded eligibility, Klevmyr said in an email that his people were “working on a public no-waste list.” That’s good, although that soon will seem unnecessary.
But again, if you long to quickly join the ranks of the vaccinated — as everyone should — and you don’t meet the current criteria of being 65 or older, or having special medical needs or a qualifying job in education, child care or food service, you might ask your health care provider if you can get on their no-waste list.
You might get lucky, too
Later the same day of my inquiry, we got a call asking us to come within 20 minutes.
I recently wrote that The Modesto Bee does not condone line-hopping. But we also strongly encourage as many people to get vaccinated as soon as possible, whether at county clinics, doctors offices or pharmacies.
I’ve also noted that some experts see nothing immoral about approaching a vaccine clinic near the close of a shift and asking if extra shots might be available, as The San Francisco Chronicle reported. We’re hearing about that happening here, where eligibility screeners at Stanislaus clinics are not being sticklers, preferring to rely on the honor system rather than demanding pay stubs, birth certificates or other proof.
So asking about no-waste lists, or showing up at county clinics before closing time, might be worth your effort. The more people are vaccinated, the sooner we build herd immunity — a critical component of life returning to normal, or something like it.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 8:22 PM.
