Newsman: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel decided today, that both the nation’s oldest, most vulnerable people and frontline essential workers be offered the next place in line for Covid-19 vaccines allocation. This next group would include Police, firefighters, teachers and grocery store and factory workers and people ages 75 and older, whose hospitalization and death rates are the highest of all age groups. That includes people who work in transportation and logistics, food service, water and wastewater, and energy sectors. They include about 30 million people in this group and considered as essential to the functioning of the economy and at high risk of exposure to Covid-19. The CDC decision was focused to use limited vaccine supplies in early 2021 both to reduce hospitalizations and deaths and slow transmission of the virus. The United States has created a phased vaccination plan for coronavirus because there won’t be enough vaccine in the beginning of the rollout.
The panel spent the day discussing who would follow front-line health care workers and people in long-term care facilities in receiving vaccines, a second phase that could begin in February. The panel is responsible for making recommendations on who gets what vaccines and when as in the beginning of the 2021, limited supply is concern. The advisory committee voted 13 to 1 to make the recommendations to have Phase 1b include people 75 and older and front-line essential workers. Phase 1c will include people aged 65 to 74 and people between 16 and 64 who have high-risk medical conditions along with other essential workers.
There are currently two COVID-19 vaccines in use in the United States. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11. The Moderna vaccine was authorized Friday and should begin arriving at hospitals on Monday.
The question of who should come next is not an easy one, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“There will be difficult choice about who gets the vaccine,” she told the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices as it began its deliberations Sunday morning. Phase 1a includes front-line health care workers and people in long-term care facilities.
“Essential workers are at high risk because of exposure, by virtue of being in contact with others, in performing their duties. Prevention of disease in essential workers may reduce transmission to others,” said Dr. Kathleen Dooling, a CDC physician who is co-lead on the ACIP COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group,
These workers are considered essential to the functioning of society and are at substantially higher risk of exposure to SARS-Co/V-2, the virus that causes COVID-19- Dr. Kathleen Dooling added .
First responders described such as firefighters, police,Teachers, support staff, daycare workers,Food and agriculture workers,Manufacturing workers,Correction workers,U.S. Postal Service workers,Public transit workers,Grocery store workers. In the next phase (1c) would include people 65 to 74, those 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions and essential workers not recommended in Phase 1b. Those other essential workers include about 57 million people and would include:Public health workers,Transportation and logistics workers,Food service workers,Construction workers,Finance workers,IT & Communications workers,Energy workers,Media workers,Legal workers,Public safety engineersWater and wastewater workers.
The medical conditions with sufficient evidence to have been associated with severe COVID-19 disease include: Obesity,Type 2 diabetes,COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,Heart condition,Chronic kidney disease Center,Immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant,Sickle cell disease,Pregnancy,Smoker (current or with a history of smoking).
Phase 2 would include all people 16 and over who were not in Phase 1 who are recommended for the vaccination. That means people 16 and over with high-risk medical conditions and because of the vaccine supplies are initially limited, Phase 1b isn’t expected to begin until February.
Operation Warp Speed, the White House COVID-19 vaccine and treatment accelerator, has said it expects to distribute 20 million doses in December, followed by 60 million in January, and 100 million by February. That’s a total of 180 million doses by the end of February, which means 90 million people would be fully vaccinated as both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses.
Last week, a total of 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was distributed. This coming week another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be distributed together with 5.9 million doses of Moderna vaccine.
More vaccines are in the pipeline. Johnson & Johnson, fully enrolled its large-scale human trial Thursday and expects to report its first safety and effectiveness data in January. AstraZeneca and Oxford University, is a few weeks behind, and a fifth candidate, by vaccine developer Novavax of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is expected to begin its major U.S. trial shortly. If and with all or most of these vaccine through, there should be plenty of vaccine by the end of next summer to cover every American who wants one.
