Algorithm puts just seven residents on Stanford Medicine’s initial COVID-19 vaccine distribution list

An algorithm determining which Stanford Medicine employees would receive their 5,000 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine included only seven residents / medical fellows on the list, according to a Dec. 17 letter from the Stanford Medicine Chief Residents’ Council. Stanford Medicine management has since apologized and promised to reassess the plan.

“We take full responsibility for errors in the execution of our vaccine distribution plan,” a spokesperson for Stanford Medicine said in a statement to The edge. “Our intention was to develop an ethical and fair process for the distribution of the vaccine. We apologize to our entire community, including our residents, fellows and other frontline care providers, who acted heroically during our pandemic response. We are immediately revising our plan to better sequence vaccine distribution. “

The initial plan led to demonstrations by medical personnel in addition to the letter sent by the head of the residents’ council.

“Stanford’s decision to de-prioritize residents and fellows is helpless on the basis of science, reason, ethics and equality,” the letter reads. (ProPublica welcomed the full letter on DocumentCloud.) “Many of us know of senior teachers who have been working from home since the pandemic began in March 2020, without in-person responsibility, who have been selected for immunization. In the meantime, we residents and fellows are donning N95 masks for the tenth month of this pandemic without a transparent and clear plan for our protection in place.

The residents’ letter also alleges that the error in the algorithm was found on Tuesday but that executives chose not to “revise the allocation scheme” until it was released on December 17.

Here’s how the algorithm would have worked, according to NPR:

According to an email sent by a chief resident to other residents, Stanford executives explained that an algorithm was used to assign its first vaccine allocation. The algorithm would have prioritized healthcare workers most at risk for COVID infections, along with factors such as age and where or unit they work in in the hospital. The residents apparently did not have an assigned place and, along with their young age, they were placed low on the priority list.

The Stanford Medicine administration also emailed staff on Dec. 18 apologizing for the initial plan and promising changes. “We are working quickly to correct the flaws in our plan and develop a revised version,” said the email, which was obtained by ProPublica health care reporter Caroline Chen. “We are optimistic that a large shipment of vaccines will arrive next week, which will allow us to immunize a substantial segment of our community.”

The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the use of two COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. The vaccine developed by Pfizer / BioNTech was authorized on December 11 and the one developed by Moderna was authorized on December 18.