Houston, December 20th – The advisory team of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted on the 20th to recommend that state and local governments in the United States give priority to front-line workers and people aged 75 and above as the second batch of coronavirus vaccinations. This group covers about 50 million people.
According to the Associated Press, the CDC’s advisory group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP), made the decision by a 13-1 vote in a web videoconference that day.
The advisory panel said that the front-line staff include employees engaged in fire first aid, education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, postal services, supermarkets, public transportation. There are about 30 million people in this group. Front-line employees need to contact various groups of people at work, resulting in a very high risk of contracting the virus. In addition, these efforts directly affect the basic needs of people’s lives, so the advisory group believes that vaccination should be given priority.
According to the advisory team, a data from the CDC shows that the death rate of COVID-19 among older people in the United States is the highest, with people aged 75 and above accounting for 25% of the total number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients, and it is recommended to give priority vaccination. There are about 20 million people in this group.
It is not clear when the second batch of vaccinations will start, according to the report. The distribution of the coronavirus vaccine is slower than previously predicted. Earlier this month, the advisory group recommended prioritizing health care workers, long-term residents and caregivers in nursing homes as the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, a group that reaches about 24 million people.
According to Reuters, the advisory group also voted on the third batch of recommended vaccinations on the same day, including about 30 million people aged 65 to 74; about 110 million people aged 16 to 64 with obesity, cancer and other diseases; and food services, utilities, law, finance, media. There are about 57 million employees in other industries.
There are about 330 million people in the United States. CDC officials say a total of 100 million people are expected to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the United States by the end of February 2021. The virus has killed 316,000 people in the United States.
According to media reports, states across the United States will build vaccine distribution plans based on this guidance in the current shortage of coronavirus vaccine supplies. It is worth mentioning that more than 20 large enterprises are lobbying the local government to rank their employees at the forefront of the vaccination queue due to different criteria for state-specific classification of front-line employees.
