Doctors race to find, vaccinate vulnerable homebound people

A group of health care workers hurried out of a Boston hospital on a recent weekday morning, clutching small red coolers filled with COVID-19 vaccines.

Their challenge: Beat traffic, a looming snowstorm and the clock. They had to get shots in the arms of their homebound patients before the vaccines expired in a few hours.

“That clock is in the back of my mind the whole time,” said Dr. Won Lee, a home care specialist at Boston Medical Center.

Millions of U.S. residents will need COVID-19 vaccines brought to them because they rarely or never leave home. Doctors and nurses who specialize in home care are leading this push and starting to get help from state and local governments around the country.

But they face several challenges. Researchers say many homebound people don't receive regular medical care, which makes it hard to identify everyone who needs a vaccine.

Supplies also are limited, and both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines expire a few hours after syringes pull the vaccine from vials.

That makes it tough for one doctor to see many patients when they must also stay in someone’s home for at least 15 minutes after the shot in case an allergic reaction develops.

“They don’t live next door to each other,” said Dr. David Moen of Prospero Health Partners, which delivers care to patients in several states. “It’s challenging to go to multiple locations.”

Even so, health care providers report progress. Lee figures she can deliver five or six doses during an average day. That will be her main focus the next several weeks.

One of her recent stops was at the second-floor apartment of a regular patient, 106-year-old Domingas Pina, who hasn't left home in about a year.

Lee sat with Pina at her dining room table, swabbed the patient's shoulder and then...