Advisory Panel Recommends Prioritizing Essential Workers for COVID-19 Vaccine
(Reuters) – An advisory panel on Sunday recommended U.S. frontline essential workers and people 75 and older should be next in line to get inoculated as the distribution of Moderna Inc’s vaccine, the second approved coronavirus vaccine, began across the country.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 13 to 1 to recommend 30 million frontline essential workers, which include first responders, teachers, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. Postal Service, public transit, and grocery store workers, have the next priority for the vaccines.
In all, the move would make 51 million people eligible to get inoculated in the next round. It was not immediately clear when the next round would begin.
About 200 million people including non-frontline workers such as those in the media, finance, energy, and IT and communication industries, persons in the 65-74 age group, and those aged 16-64 years with high-risk conditions should be in the ensuing round, the panel recommended.
