Erkin Yalcin | E + | Getty Images
For the country’s oldest people interested in defense against the cove, the wait game has begun.
Exports of the 2.9 million dose of the first US-approved corona virus vaccine began Sunday, reaching hundreds of sites across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities be given priority in this first phase because the initial supply is low – the total U.S. population is about 330 million.
In other words, those facilities that exclude the elderly – including those in nursing homes – may require a crowd of 65 and over to exercise some patience.
“The elderly can start getting their vaccines in the first quarter, but it depends on how quickly the supplies depend,” said Jennifer Gates, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and director of global health and HIV policy.
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The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Pfizer and Bioendech’s corona virus vaccine for emergency use in individuals 16 years of age and older. A person from Moderna may receive similar approval from the FDA in the coming days.
“If the modern vaccine is approved this week, it will help because there will be more supply,” Gates said.
Nevertheless, demand is high in the first months of the vaccination program, according to the CDC Advisory Board. Although the vaccine will be distributed and administered in stages to give priority to the most vulnerable people, it is uncertain how long it will take to cover each of those target groups.
According to new Kaiser research, 19.7 million adults work in health care systems, of whom 15.5 million have direct patient contact. Between nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, there are approximately 2 million residents.
The release of the Pfizer vaccine represents a complex effort by the federal government and the states. Not only should the vaccine be stored at subzero temperatures and handled according to strict protocols, but both doses are required at three-week intervals.
Medicare – which insures people 65 and older – has recently changed its rules so that it can completely cover up the rapidly monitored vaccine, while individual states actually work to distribute the doses and identify priority people as innocent. Gates said all states generally follow federal recommendations for their first target population, and some have an expanded priority list.
What [the advisory committee] It has been said in the discussions that they are likely to suggest that the essential workers are next, then senior and have existing medical conditions.
Jennifer Gates
Senior Vice President of the Kaiser Family Trust
It is unclear which groups the CDC will recommend prioritizing after the initial round of coverage, or whether the previous target of 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the year will be met. However, the agency’s advisory panel on immunization practices last month recommended that the next priority population, people 65 years of age or older, with critical care and basic medical conditions, be at higher risk for covit complications.
“What [the advisory committee] It is said in the discussions that the essential workers will be next, then they are likely to nominate seniors and those with existing medical conditions, ”Gates said.
If those three people are centered on health workers and residents of long-term care facilities, it will target 87 million essential workers, more than 53 million people aged 65 or over and 100 million high-risk physicians, Kaiser points out in new research.
Availability depends on how many doses are available for each state, which is now based on the number of adults in each state. However, not all states have equal shares of target groups – for example, some have more health care workers, while others have more nursing home residents, Gates said.
“Some of the initial allocations will be inappropriate,” Gates said.
According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the epidemic has killed at least 299,191 people in the United States, with more than 16.25 million cases. Those figures account for about 19% of the world’s 1.6 million cow deaths and 23% of the 72.3 million cases worldwide.
CDC data show an increase of approximately 262,000 cowboy deaths as of December 9, with more than 209,000 people aged 65 or over. Overall, residents of long-term care facilities account for about 40% of U.S. cowboy deaths to date, according to the CDC.