Robert McKean of Sarasota hasn’t needed the VA Health Care System, until now.
The 77-year-old Marine Corps Veteran, who served during the Vietnam War era, says his post-service life has been good and he doesn’t need major medical care.
But McKean, like many older adults and the rest of the U.S. population, needs a COVID-19 vaccine.
He filled out an application under the impression that his name would be added to a list of Veterans awaiting a vaccine provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
He simply wanted the potentially lifesaving shot to keep he and his wife, Olivia, safe.
McKean went to the VA to drop off his forms and they told him it would take about a week to get him into the system.
On Jan. 16, McKean got the bad news he was ineligible in a letter from the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System because of income limits. He got on the phone Thursday and was passed off to four different departments before he hung up.
The VA letter said McKean was assigned to “Priority Group 8g” (an assigned priority group consisting of higher income Veterans) on Jan. 17, 2003. The VA suspended new enrollments of Veterans assigned to this priority group, making McKean ineligible to enroll.
“We were both very upset,” Olivia McKean said. “My husband was so angry and upset that he hardly slept last night. He was so worked up about it. It was so wrong.”
Online, the McKeans quickly found other Veterans going through the same situation who were denied the COVID-19 vaccine because of income limits.
“My wife got into a letter-writing mode,” McKean said.
McKean was a sergeant in the Marines assigned to the infantry, but was never deployed to Vietnam. After his military service, he went back to college and retired comfortably with a “middle-class retirement.”
He does not think he should be put at the front of the line. There are others he believes need the shot more.
But he does not believe he should be ignored completely.
“The VA should be reserved for people with greater need and greater resources than we have,” he said. “But I don’t want a kidney transplant, I want the COVID-19 vaccine.”
McKean said vaccinations are a bipartisan issue and an emergency.
Another Veteran, Donald Fleishman, also went to the VA Medical Center for help with the coronavirus pandemic raging and vaccines hard to get. The 86-year-old West Palm Beach resident joined other Veterans seeking inoculations at the sprawling VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach.
And like many others, he was turned away.
“If you’re making over a certain amount of money you can’t get the vaccine,” said Arlene Fleishman, who spent 2½ hours at the medical center with her husband Monday before being told he was ineligible.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous, especially since the government is paying for the vaccines,” Donald Fleishman said.
“It’s almost like they’re penalizing him for being successful,” his wife said.
Officials at the Riviera Beach hospital said they don’t make the rules. According to a 2006 law, Veterans who aren’t already receiving services have to make less than a certain amount of money to be eligible for care – and that includes the shots that are being offered to those 70 and older.
To qualify for free benefits in Palm Beach County, a Veteran with no dependents has to make less than $34,171 a year. Veterans with no dependents who make less than $51,535 annually can receive treatment at the VA with copayments. The income limitations vary by state and county.
Ronald Gross, a Vietnam era Veteran, said he doesn’t view the coronavirus vaccine as a benefit but more like a service.
“Everyone’s supposed to get it,” the 76-year-old Boynton Beach resident said. “It’s supposed to be free.”
Further, like the Fleishmans, he said the income requirement was never explained to him until he showed up at the Riviera Beach hospital even though he called before he went.
“I was just trying to get protected,” Gross said.
The requirement is just the latest glitch in the vaccine rollout that has left seniors frustrated after being promised that they, along with front-line health care workers and nursing home residents and staff, would be first in line for the vaccine.
After numerous news reports of people flying into the state to get the vaccine, Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees on Thursday made it clear that the inoculations are for Florida residents only.
“The COVID-19 vaccine remains scarce within the United States, and vaccine availability in Florida is extremely limited,” Rivkees wrote in a public health advisory. People will have to prove they live in the state to get vaccinated, he said.
Seasonal residents won’t be shut out under Rivkees’ order. Those without a Florida driver’s license can provide other proof of residency such as rental agreements, mortgages or utility bills.
As of Thursday, 39,710 out-of-state residents had received the first dose of the two-shot vaccine. Another 1,255 had received both doses.
Overall, 1,059,041 people have received the first shot and 123,971 have had the second shot as well.
The scarcity Rivkees highlighted has confounded those 65 and older.
So far, the VA Medical Center in South Florida has inoculated about 7,000 Veterans over 70, said Kenita Tills, a hospital spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, in an effort to increase transparency about who’s getting the vaccine, state health officials have expanded the information they are offering on their website. The state is also now giving racial and ethnicity breakdowns by county.
Some have complained that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to tap Publix supermarkets to administer the vaccine will increase the racial divide.
Others worry about the online system they must use to get a vaccination appointment at Publix.
On Wednesday, about 250,000 logged on at once, forcing people to wait for more than hour in a virtual line. Only about 24,000 people in 18 counties across the state got appointments.
But, with few options, many seniors said they will log on again when the website opens. Having been shut out of the VA, Donald Fleishman said he has no choice.
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