Loophole being used by some El Pasoans to get vaccinated despite not qualifying

EL PASO, Texas -- The requirements for being in group 1B of the vaccination process is to be 65 years or older, or to have a chronic medical issue.

Many El Pasoans have brought concerns to ABC-7 that the city health department isn't checking on the latter. Turns out -- you're right.

The City of El Paso is *not* checking whether people who want to get the vaccine actually have chronic health conditions.

Why not? Department of Public Health Director Angela Mora says doing that would cause issues:

"Right now for individuals who have a chronic condition, we're not asking for any proof of chronic condition for now. The state is considering the individuals that would have difficulty reaching out or accessing a medical provider to provide a letter stating that they have x or y medical condition. We know that we want to make sure that we don't place barriers for individuals to get their vaccine if they have a chronic condition."

That's the system at the moment, but it could change. Mora warned what will happen if people abuse it:

"So for now we're using the honor system. If you tell us you have a chronic condition, you can take whatever you have for us to verify that you have that. But if you don't have it, we still vaccinate you. We're using that for now. If we start to determine community members are abusing that honor system, then we're going to require proof of chronic condition."

The public health director says the city checks if people are 65 years or older; she says you'll be asked for an ID like a driver's license or passport.
And healthcare workers are asked for a work ID or a paycheck stub that indicates where they work.

But of course, if the city does have to change policy, it wouldn't impact someone who gamed the system already -- just future potential violators.

And by no means is ABC-7 encouraging this -- but it's important to get answers to these questions and be transparent with El Pasoans.