An advisory group from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday recommended that people 75 and older and certain essential front-line workers be next in line for COVID-19 vaccines.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13-1 to advise the CDC to include those essential front-line workers aged 75 and over, including emergency assistants and teachers, in the next phase of vaccinations against the coronavirus, several media outlets reported on Sunday.
These recommendations would apply to phase 1b of the vaccination process, after the committee and the CDC reported that health workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities receive the first vaccines in the country. Phase 1b will aim to vaccinate about 50 million people by the end of February, it reports The New York Times.
The ACIP also decided that the groups that should be prioritized in phase 1c are adults aged 65 to 74 and those aged 16 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions. The phase will also involve other essential workers, such as correctional officers, postal workers, public transport workers and food supply workers, who were not included in the first two phases.
The advisory group said it decided on the priority groups based on information from scientists, ethics, vaccination experts and the general public. NBC News reported.
José Romero, president of ACIP and secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, said the groups were selected “to address the current shortage of vaccine supply and target those most at risk for disease.” . CNN reported.
Director of CDC Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield: CDC Voting Committee Recommends Modern Emergency Vaccine The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Mastercard – Congress Towards COVID-19 Relief, Omnibus Agreement Trump boosted the herd’s immunity and called for low-risk Americans to be infected. it will review the ACIP recommendations and determine whether the agency is adopting it as official guidance. During the meeting, ACIP noted that its advice was not binding, as each state could adjust the recommendations for its own population, according to the Times.
Public health experts initially indicated that they would allow a larger group of essential workers to receive the vaccine earlier than older adults. But ACIP member Kathleen Dooling noted that those over the age of 75 accounted for 25 percent of COVID-19-related hospitalizations, even though they account for 8 percent of the population, according to NBC News.
The recommendations come after Americans received the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Modern Vaccine last week. Now, about 6 million doses of the Modern vaccine are transported around the country.
ACIP published its guide because the United States has confirmed 17.8 million cases of COVID-19 and 317,408 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
It also arrives, as the country has accounted for more than 150,000 new cases every day since early December and like the United States for the holidays. COVID-19-related hospitalizations have also remained above 100,000 every day since Dec. 2, according to The COVID Tracking Project.