Co-authored with Luis Elorreaga
On Monday, I got a surprising text from a friend saying there were “extra Covid vaccines” at the Oakland Coliseum with an access code to sign up for an appointment. I forwarded this code and the good news to friends and loved ones.
We were under the impression that the access code was being used to get extra vaccines to the public before they went to waste. We figured it was another Santa Clara situation, where thousands of people didn’t show up for their appointment and distributors rushed to find recipients.
My partner, my best friend, and I booked our appointments through My Turn California, the state’s system for vaccine scheduling, without a problem using the code. The site gave no indication about what this code was meant for. A few of our friends got the vaccine within hours of receiving my text message. They walked right into the line at the Oakland Coliseum, scanned a QR code to verify their reservation, and came out 40 minutes later vaccinated.
Then, we came across a Los Angeles Times article published later that night, describing an eerily similar situation. It read:
A California program intended to improve Covid-19 vaccine availability to people in hard-hit communities of color is being misused by outsiders who are grabbing appointments reserved for residents of underserved Black and Latino areas.
We were aghast. And confused. Could it be that a code meant for marginalized communities was getting passed around our circles? Was the Bay Area experiencing the same access code leak as L.A.?
We later learned the answer was yes.
The L.A. Times article didn’t explain, at the time of its release, if our access code was an accidental leak or if it was meant to get extra vaccines to the public before they expired. We also didn’t know if canceling our appointments would cause the vaccine we signed up for to go to waste.
We turned to the phones, calling any number or hotline we could get ahold of. We reached answering machines and got hung up on many times — another Covid-era idiosyncrasy. When we reached the My Turn hotline, they were equally as confused.
“I haven’t heard anything about these access codes,” the woman said. “Let me talk to my supervisor.”
Her supervisor came back and confirmed that the codes were meant for at-risk communities. She recommended we cancel our appointment and that we would likely get turned away at the vaccination site.
We were still worried that our vaccine would go to waste. How could we ensure that our canceled appointment would go to someone in need?
Thirty minutes later, we got a call from director Luis “Vance” Taylor from the Office of Emergency Services. He received our voicemail. Taylor confirmed that the codes were meant for communities in need and that there were no codes in circulation for excess vaccines. He assured us that, if we canceled, the vaccines would not go to waste.
“These codes are reserved for community-based organizations that serve low-income communities, non-English speakers, or people with disabilities. Those who have a really hard time accessing the system,” Taylor said. “Please spread the word. And call us back with any more insight on how these codes are spreading.”
Any codes out in the wild are intended for the current tier (Phase 1B) and BIPOC communities through community-based organizations.
We canceled our appointments and spread the news to our networks.
Through our investigations, we would later come to realize that the “Santa Clara situation” of extra vaccines didn’t apply to us and is very unlikely. The Coliseum unfreezes Covid vaccines on demand based on the number of cars in line at the entrance, Taylor assured. In the vast majority of cases, vaccines don’t go to waste. If someone doesn’t show up for their appointment, vaccination sites have an on-call list of eligible people and community-based organizations to reach out to.
Here’s the takeaway: The rumor of wasted vaccines is a myth that allows privileged communities to skip the line guilt-free. In the absence of education and information, white and privileged people got the vaccine.
We can volunteer at California Volunteers, which is the state office that organizes community service and mobilizes people to help with the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Our job now is to get the vaccines to the people who need them.
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