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The new details come a day after the company confirmed to ABC7 News that it had fired several of its clinical staff for their “intentional breach” of eligibility requirements. Several current members of One Medical tell ABC7 they plan to cancel their membership after seeing people in their 40s jump early.
The counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin and Alameda – including the city of Berkeley – have all cut off One Medical’s vaccine supply.
“It’s really disheartening to hear,” said Andrew Levy, current member of One Medical. “I have elderly parents who have difficulty getting vaccinated.”
Levy has been a member for five years. But now he plans to cut ties with the company.
“My health care provider must respect my values,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate when they try to cheat.”
Another member told the I-Team anonymously that “ a lot ” of people jumped the line five weeks ago at the One Medical Four Embarcadero clinic.
“When I was in line at One Medical to get the vaccine, there were a number of people under the age of 65 waiting for their injection and they were all vaccinated that day,” an approved source told ABC7. . “They shouldn’t be doing it, the other caregivers haven’t been able to get it, the teachers haven’t been able to get it … the system is not working.”
According to a letter sent to One Medical Monday, the San Francisco Department of Public Health allows the company to continue giving second doses to pre-scheduled patients, but the Department of Health has ordered the return of the remaining 1,600 doses .
San Mateo County Public Health canceled its contract with the company after a sustained complaint revealed that 70 ineligible people had been vaccinated.
Marin County has made the following statement:
“We have only provided One Medical with enough doses to complete the second dose vaccinations it needs to give to people who received the first doses (we advise residents to look for their second dose at the source of their first dose. ). However, we have indefinitely suspended any new first dose allocation to One Medical, pending further review. We have also removed One Medical from our website as a Recommended Vaccine Provider, based in Marin County. “
Santa Clara County has made the following statement:
“The county has provided vaccination doses to One Medical for approximately 300 health workers of its staff. There are no future vaccine dose allocations planned for One Medical.
Alameda County has made the following statement:
“At the end of January, Alameda County allocated 975 doses of Pfizer vaccine so that they could immunize the phase 1a health workers who were their members. After this initial allocation, they received no further doses. Alameda County did not respond to One Medical’s subsequent request in early February for additional doses when they indicated they planned to vaccinate more than their health workers (who were the only group approved on a priority basis for vaccinations at the time) then. We did not assign any additional doses to One Medical. “
Sonoma, Napa and Contra Costa counties have told ABC7 they are not signing a contract with One Medical.
“Anything that happens that delays those who need it most from getting vaccinated is costing someone their life,” said Mike Wasserman, who sits on the California Vaccine Advisory Committee.
One Medical told ABC News they have a “ zero tolerance policy ” for any example of preferential vaccine treatment. The company charges $ 199 for an annual subscription.
“We support our policy that no ineligible employee, member or affiliate will be intentionally given the opportunity to skip the line. Any suggestion that there is a widely known and accepted practice of making these types of concessions is unequivocally false. “said a spokesperson for One Medical.
One Medical also said it maintains many checkpoints where people have consistently refused and do not meet eligibility criteria. The company added that a majority of its vaccination pool does not include paid members, but referrals from health departments.
In January, Andrew Diamond, the company’s medical director, told ABC7 he encouraged anyone to apply for their 30-day trial subscription.
“It’s kind of like a loophole. If you get the 30-day trial, you can potentially get the COVID-19 vaccine through One Medical?” Asked Luz Pena from ABC7.
“Absolutely. That’s the whole point,” Diamond said. “Our goal is to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible and as many people as possible,” replied Diamond.
ABC7 has requested an interview with One Medical, but has yet to receive a response from the company.
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