Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has issued an advisory to health care providers involved in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, warning them not to give the shots to anyone who is “ineligible.”
At the moment, eligible people include older adults and frontline health workers.
The move comes after Portland-based MaineHealth was criticized in an op-ed for offering COVID-19 vaccines for all of its staff members — including those working from home and office staff, as well as some out-of-state consultants hired by the company in response to an effort by nurses to form a union.
The health care provider says it was following CDC guidelines, but that those guidelines changed after it had already vaccinated its staff members. The company admitted erring when doses were given to nonresidents.
Frey doesn’t name any health provider in particular, but he suggests that vaccine has been given to “wealthy donors who cut the line” and “out-of-state union busters.”
Frey writes in the advisory that his office will consider “legal and administrative sanctions” against providers who administer the COVID-19 vaccine to those who aren’t eligible to receive it.
