A key panel within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a phased approach to allocating the coronavirus vaccine to the public.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is made up of medical and public health experts, said the first phase should comprise the groups of people who are most vulnerable to infection, broken into three subgroups:
- Phase 1a: Healthcare personnel in hospitals, outpatient care centers, home care settings, and pharmacies, as well as emergency medical services workers, public health officials, and residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
- Phase 1b: Essential workers, such as police, grocery store employees, public transportation workers, and school staff, including teachers.
- Phase 1c: Seniors over 65 and people with high-risk health conditions, such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cancer, and sickle cell disease.
Once the Food and Drug Administration grants authority for emergency use of the vaccine, shots will start to be shipped out within 24 hours.
The CDC vaccine panel has not issued recommendations for the groups to be included in the second and third phases, but they are expected to be the healthiest populations, starting with children and nonessential workers in phase two and everyone else in the United States in phase three.
