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 He hadn't hugged his 98-year-old father in a long time, and was
hoping a vaccine would change that. Last week, he struck gold in
Santa Fe Springs.
"It was the last dose they gave, and I was the lucky one," the
68-year-old said.
The chase for leftover vaccine doses is widespread and competitive
in Los Angeles. The wait can last for hours outside a clinic or
vaccination site, and most people are turned away without a shot.
Clinics have leftover doses when people cancel their appointments at
the last minute or don't show up. Once opened, vaccine vials have an
expiry date: 5 days for the Pfizer vaccine and 30 days for the
Moderna one.
"We need to make sure if we're going to pull out that vaccine, that
we have the people signed up and the resources and the event
scheduled," said Will Baker, clinic manager for private ambulance
service CARE Ambulance, stressing the importance of not wasting any
of the precious doses.
'NEVER GUARANTEED'
Vaccine chasers have been criticized for getting doses when it's not
their turn, perhaps taking it away from someone who might need it
more.
"I'm here in the hope that there's some that might be left over,"
said Cynthia Perez, 48, the first to arrive when the Santa Fe
Springs clinic opened at 2:00pm.
"So I'm not trying to jump the line. I'm just trying to take
advantage of any vaccines or any doses that might be thrown away,"
she said.
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 Perez said she had a child with
asthma, and was in ill-health herself, adding,
"I'm trying to get ahead of the curve a bit and
stay healthy."
As the evening wore on, the line of chasers
outside the clinic grew, and Baker took down
their details. Throughout the day, he counted
the doses left at each vaccine station, revised
the list of appointments, and did the math.
When the clinic closed at 6 p.m., and there was
a single shot left over, he called Espinoza's
name. "I went over the
guidelines and I looked for anyone in the line that was 1A," Baker
explained, referring to the first category of vaccine allocation as
recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We did have one person in the line that met the 1A criteria and we
were able to get him a vaccine today," he said.
Then Baker went outside and told the rest of the line there were no
more doses for the day, apologizing and thanking everyone for their
patience.
Perez picked up her bag and headed home, disappointed but not
deterred.
"You can't be upset. It's never guaranteed," she said.
(Reporting by Norma Galeana; Editing by Sandra Stojanovic, Karishma
Singh and Gerry Doyle)
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