Santa Clara County is withholding doses of COVID-19 vaccine from a San Jose hospital after teachers from a local school district were invited to sign up for vaccinations before they were eligible.
First reported by the San Jose Spotlight, Good Samaritan Hospital offered vaccine appointments to staff of Los Gatos Union School District. An email from school district Superintendent Paul Johnson to staff members suggested the hospital was offering the appointments due to fundraising work the district had done for the hospital.
That offer goes against eligibility requirements, as Santa Clara County is currently vaccinating only health care workers, vulnerable seniors and those 75 and older.
A spokesperson for the hospital said about 65 teachers from the school district were given first doses; they will be allowed to receive the required second dose, the county said.
In a statement, hospital CEO Joe DeSchryver apologized and said the offer was made in order to avoid wasting unused doses that had thawed.
Johnson, the district superintendent, said in a statement that he understood the concern about the incident but that "any characterization I may have made about Good Samaritan returning a good deed was my own personal interpretation."
Good Samaritan Hospital must submit a plan to the county before it can begin receiving first doses of vaccine again.
—Polly Stryker and Jon Brooks
