Written by Jamie Parsons
Over the past year, California has signed 3 no-bid contracts with OptumServe to operate COVID- 19 vaccination and testing sites. With just vaccinations alone, California agreed to pay OptumServe up to $221 million however, miscommunication and staffing shortages have resulted in a contribution of only 1% of California’s vaccinations since January.
As seen in the contracts, OptumServe proposed to administer 1,260 doses a day at the start of January. They have currently administered 370,000 doses of which roughly 80% were during March and April. The lack of construction and management in the company has pushed counties to rely on community organizations or county health departments to ensure citizens are getting vaccinated.
In response to complaints about OptumServe, the California Department of Public Health said, “The state and our partners in the vaccination rollout have learned much along the way, and we strive continuously to improve communication and processes…Where issues have been raised, we have worked to address them quickly.” But OptumServe has proven otherwise. They still do not inform counties of measures they have taken against employers who are tardy/absent but instead want counties to trust them that they are “managing the issues accordingly.”
People can argue that OptumServe looks like they are not administering many COVID-19 vaccinations because the number of people going into the clinics is low. However, it is due to the state’s poor MyTurn vaccine scheduling website. According to CalMatters, “Two of the sites were in farmworker communities. Carrigan said at times they did not fully distribute the 420 doses available each day because MyTurn appointments posted on the website too late.” This quote refers to two vaccination sites that opened in Kern County and failed to live up to Governors Newsoms announced initiatives for the two locations.
California’s choice in relying on OptumServe and other private businesses is due to the state budget cuts dating back to 2008, which are yet to be restored. Most recently, Newsom came out with a May Revision budget that did not allocate funding for public health infrastructures. This has given California more incentive to continue to rely on OptumServe and other private businesses to keep public health programs in the state afloat.
Regardless of Optumserve’s flawed vaccination work, California continues to pay them instead of focusing on community organizations that have stepped up to bring vaccinations to their county citizens.
Photo via Los Angeles Times
