Stanford apologizes for 'errors' in distributing COVID vaccine

Stanford Health has apologized for giving the coronavirus vaccine to a scant number of some frontline medical workers.

Medical residents said they deserve shots because of their interactions with coronavirus patients, but they were passed over to get the shots in some cases for veteran doctors who work from home.

There was a protest by residents at the hospital today that highlighted what they said was an unfair distribution of the potentially life-saving vaccinations. The hospital should have been more forthcoming about who was eligible to get the shots, they said.

Stanford received 5,000 doses of a COVID vaccine, but only seven went to the hospital’s 1,300 residents and fellows, according to residents at the Friday protest. 

"The people at highest risk should get the vaccine first so they don't expose other people," said Charles Marcus, a third-year anesthesia resident.

Following the protest, Stanford Medicine apologized.

"We take complete responsibility for the errors in the execution of our vaccine distribution plan. Our intent was to develop an ethical and equitable process for distribution of the vaccine," Stanford Medicine said in a statement. "We apologize to our entire community, including our residents, fellows, and other frontline care providers, who have performed heroically during our pandemic response. We are immediately revising our plan to better sequence the distribution of the vaccine."