Friends and Family Plan

Tennessee Health Workers Accused of Turning Away Elderly Vaccine Recipient Hopefuls to Give Doses to Friends

Health officials said a “miscalculation” was to blame after close contacts of vaccine administrators were called in to get shots while elderly patients were turned away.

People over 75 lined up for hours in Tennessee to get a chance at a COVID-19 vaccine only to find out that staff distributing the inoculations gave away doses to friends and family after telling hundreds who’d waited for hours that no more shots were available. Reporters from WRCB-TV learned that staff at the Tennessee Riverpark vaccination center had phoned relatives and friends and told them vaccines were still available after the facility had turned away potential patients. Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said the incident was the result of a “miscalculation,” in which officials discovered they had more doses available only after turning patients away and sought to make use of them quickly before the vaccine thawed and spoiled.