(Photo by Twitter / @ CVSHealth)
PHOENIX – The group of health experts who make Arizona’s COVID-19 vaccination priority recommendations moved adults 75 years and older to a higher slot on Monday.
The 75-year-old group is now part of a new classification, Prioritized 1B, which also includes teachers, child care workers and police occupations, according to the latest allocation recommendations from the Vaccine Advisory Committee. ‘Arizona and antiviral prioritization.
An estimated 530,000 Arizona people are 75 years of age or older, a population facing a high risk of falling seriously ill or dying of coronavirus. The reorientation is expected to help reduce the burden on Arizona hospitals, which are shrinking under the weight of a record number of COVID-19 patients.
“While looking at prioritization, what we are trying to do is make sure that those with the most serious outcomes, such as hospitalizations and deaths, are prioritized to get the vaccine, which will protect people from the possibility of dying,” she said. Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services News KTAR 92.3 FM on Tuesday.
Priority 1B is only behind State Plan 1A, which now has four levels of priority populations. The change does not affect residents of long-term care centers, who are part of Phase 1A and have already started receiving vaccines.
Christ said the process for letting people know about the new classification they are eligible for will vary by county and is still being worked on.
“We will make announcements as we get more information on how to register, but we are studying many different mechanisms,” he said.
“We are working with counties to identify if they will have mass vaccination sites, if they will be able to go to pharmacies, if we will have mobile vaccination clinics that can go to people’s homes.”
Vaccinations for priority 1B are expected to begin in mid-late January, although it could begin earlier in some counties, Christ said.
Christ said he expects the final priority phases to end in February or March, and phase 2, the general population, will begin in March or April.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, adults 75 and older who take COVID-19 are eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 220 times more likely to die than those 18 to 29 years old.
The previous version of the plan, which was updated on Dec. 14, prioritized approximately 1.2 million adults age 65 or older in the state in Phase 1C, which was then the third of three priority groups. . There were no separate categories for people 75 years of age or older.
The Vaccine and Antiviral Prioritization Advisory Committee meets periodically to make recommendations on how to equitably distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona while supplies are limited.
The committee is made up of state, local and tribal experts, including representatives from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Local health officials or tribal authorities can modify the recommendations to suit their needs.
Monday’s update aligns with the new recommendations of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Christ said.
Vaccine distribution began in Arizona two weeks ago for Phase 1A people, which includes front-line health care staff, emergency medical workers and residents, and long-term care center staff.
Christ said nearly 40,000 shots have been fired in Arizona so far.
Federal officials have approved the emergency use permit for two vaccines, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, with efficacy rates in excess of 90%. Both require two separate shots several weeks to get full effectiveness.
Modern vaccines are more easily distributed in various places because they can be stored in regular freezers.
Pfizer vaccines, which are currently being administered at five Phoenix subway sites, should be stored at extremely cold temperatures in specially designed freezers.
Ali Vetnar of KTAR News 92.3 FM contributed to this report.