This SC man is ‘the healthiest’ in his family but got the COVID-19 vaccine first. How?
His sister has a lung disease. His brother is 71. And his wife has multiple health issues.
But Ron Auvil, 65, has “very minor health issues” and received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine — before his sister, brother and wife. His age is the reason.
“I’m very thankful that I have minor health issues,” Auvil, who lives in Rock Hill, recently told The Herald. “But I’d be the first one to trade with someone who really needed it.”
But he can’t — at least not in the Carolinas.
“We can’t state strongly enough how incumbent it is for providers to follow these guidelines,” South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control’s interim director of public health Brannon Traxler said during a recent media briefing. “Not adhering to them means that those who have been identified for being at the highest risk of potentially dying due to COVID-19 and who are waiting patiently to receive their shots get bumped back in line and that’s just unacceptable.”
Auvil’s wife, 64, has “a number of those health problems” on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of conditions that would increase someone’s risk of severe illness from COVID-19, Auvil said.
“I don’t want to get into specific health issues,” he said.
She’s just one year short of North Carolina’s — and now, South Carolina’s — phased vaccine eligibility guidelines. Both states, neither of which have a residency requirement, are allocating shots to those 65 and older regardless of health status.
‘So much irony’
Auvil had set up an appointment to get his shot at the end of February through his provider, Atrium Health, in Monroe, North Carolina.
Less than a week after he secured his spot, Atrium offered him an appointment during its mass vaccination event at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Jan. 30 — nearly two weeks before his home state opened up eligibility for his age group.
Auvil got the shot because of his age. His wife, who he argues needs it more than him, can’t get one for the same reason. Her age.
“I have very little health problems,” he said. “I’m fat or whatever. I don’t know. Nothing really other than that.”
Auvil will get his second dose a few days after he initially was scheduled to get his first. He claims he is “the healthiest” among his sister, brother and wife, but he’ll be fully vaccinated against the deadly virus before them.
“There’s so much irony with this,” he said.
At the same time, hundreds of South Carolinians who fall into the state’s age restriction for the vaccine struggle to find appointments this month — or even in the next three months.
“Everyone wants to know exactly when they or someone they love, or someone who has a health condition or disability can receive their shots,” state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said Wednesday. “We really, of course, wish that there was enough vaccine to provide for everyone right now. But there just isn’t.”
‘I’d trade with a lot people’
Auvil keeps track of vaccine rollout in four different states. South Carolina. North Carolina. West Virginia. Ohio. His sister and brother live in Ohio, and he has extended family all over West Virginia.
Although Auvil, a technical instructor, is “semi-retired,” he still spends more than 12 hours a day on the computer — four of which he designates for scouring the internet trying to find vaccine appointments for his family.
During the other eight hours, he works on updating his textbook on indoor air quality — a topic he’s taught to CDC officials in Atlanta — with information on COVID-19, so his days are typically inundated with coronavirus information.
Auvil’s sister, who lives in Ohio, has stage three chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which obstructs airflow from the lungs.
“My sister gets (COVID-19), she dies tomorrow,” he said. “I told her I’d come and get her, and take her to North Carolina to get the vaccine, but she can’t drag the oxygen tanks.”
Luckily, he didn’t have to.
On Feb. 1, Ohio expanded its vaccine eligibility to include those 70 and older. His sister, 70, received her first dose on Feb. 5. Auvil’s sister set up her appointment on her own and Auvil helped her iron out the details.
“She had to make it into the grocery store pharmacy store, dragging the oxygen tanks with her,” Auvil said in an email to The Herald. “Thankfully, they had a motorized cart.”
He’s also worried about his brother.
“My brother doesn’t have as many health problems,” Auvil said. “But I would trade with him. I’d trade with a lot of people.”
‘Every man for himself’
South Carolina health officials have continued to stress that the demand for the vaccine currently outstretches the supply. DHEC officials estimate that there are about 1.3 million South Carolinians currently eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1a, which includes health care workers, and those 65 and older.
“If you look at the number of people that we have vaccinated — based on the number of first doses that we have out there — it’s about 470,000,” DHEC’s senior deputy for public health Nick Davidson said Wednesday. “So, not even yet a half a million of 1.3 million people had been vaccinated.”
Based on his luck, Auvil expects his wife to have a better chance getting her vaccine in North Carolina.
“They’re going to get there faster than South Carolina,” he said. “But she’s not eligible in North Carolina until they hit Group 3, which at this rate is going to be five years.”
North Carolina has split its eligibility phases into five groups and is administering doses to “older adults,” or group 2. Its group 3 includes front line essential workers, which the CDC defines as individuals “who are in sectors essential to the functioning of society and who are at substantially higher risk for exposure to COVID-19.”
“We’re in a situation where everybody in a certain group is trying to get through the front door of the lobby at the same time,” Auvil said. “People who really want the vaccine believe that it’s every man for himself.”
