What's are the chances of getting real lucky while out on a grocery round on a Friday night? A law student from Washington ended up getting way more than he anticipated while out to buy groceries with his friend in Washington when they were stopped by a pharmacist and given Moderna vaccine jabs.
David MacMillan, a law student residing in Washington DC happened to be walking through a Giant grocery store in DC last week on Friday night when a health worker caught up with him and his friend. Apparently, some frontline workers and first responders who were listed to get the doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine near the store had missed their appointments, leaving them with a few unused doses, NBC reported.
McMillan reportedly told NBC that the nurse caught them midway and told that she had two doses of vaccine which will expire and she will have to throw them away if not given to someone. She asked McMillan and his friend whether they would like to be vaccinated.
So, just like that, MacMillan and his friend received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. And now, the pair will soon also receive the second dose as per the guidelines.
An advisory panel last month had recommended US frontline essential workers and people 75 and older should be next in line to get inoculated as the distribution of Moderna Inc’s vaccine, the second approved coronavirus vaccine, began across the country. States, which are the ones distributing shots to their residents, will use the advisory panel’s guidelines to decide on how to allocate the vaccines while supplies are scarce.
So why didn't the health worker keep the vaccine back in her bag?
According to experts, the vaccine, once its unfrozen after getting out of the lab only lasts for a few hours before it expires, rendering it useless. And the district’s health department, not wanting to waste any vaccines, has allowed for the jabs to be given to anyone who they can find nearby if there are no listed frontline workers available to get the doses. The vaccine must be kept at very cold temperature and quickly spoils in a few hours if not used in time.
A video of McMillan being inoculated with the dose was uploaded on TikTok this week and has been viewed over 700,000 times. McMillan, however is not in the priority group to be vaccinated.
Washington DC is currently going through the Phase 1A of vaccinations, with shots for health care workers in settings such as hospitals, long-term care facilities and pharmacies. Phase 1B will include residents aged 65 and above, teachers and several categories of essential workers.
McMillan reportedly called the health worker a 'heroine' and said that he wished to spread positivity and awareness on the good effects of the vaccine by sharing the video of him getting inoculated.
“It is important, when there is so much misinformation, that people can see that it is a good thing, that it is a positive thing. We must be excited to be able to fight the pandemic, he was quoted by NBC as saying.