United States: What will the coronavirus vaccination be like in the US? – USA and Canada – International

Who in the United States will get the covid-19 vaccine first? A panel of
High-level experts ruled this Tuesday: health workers and patients requiring long-term care should take priority.

(Read here: After registering more than 2,700 deaths in one day, the US breaks record)

Will the US follow the global pattern?

US experts may differ from those in other countries, which would prioritize “essential workers” – who keep society going – over people most at risk.

In the end, there will not be a single rule that applies to the entire United States. As in the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign, the federal government will only make recommendations to the states and will give them the freedom to decide the mode of distribution and the order of priority.

“I believe that my vote reflects maximum benefits, minimum damages, the promotion of justice and the mitigation of inequalities in health, regarding the distribution of this vaccine,” said José Romero, president of the Advisory Committee on Practices of Immunization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC).

What is most important to America?

Recognized groups of experts have already issued opinions, often divergent, that reveal the central tension of the debate: Vaccination must protect the most vulnerable and at the same time facilitate the reactivation of society.

It is on this topic, how to reactivate the economy as quickly as possible, that
America could distinguish itself.

(Also read: US quarantine reduced to ten days when there are no symptoms)

What is the international recommendation?

France’s high health authority recommended starting with nursing home residents and employees, followed by the elderly and healthcare workers, then those over 50, then people whose professions put them at risk of infection, patients with medical complications and people living in poverty. In the end, the rest of the population.

That is the approach suggested by the World Health Organization and chosen by many rich countries, Saad Omer, director of the Institute for Global Health at Yale University, told AFP.

Has it already been decided who will get vaccinated first?

In the United States, the panel of experts voted overwhelmingly in favor of giving priority in the first phase of vaccination to healthcare workers and long-term care facilities, two sectors in which nearly 40% of deaths in the country are registered.

The committee did not rule on what would happen after the initial vaccination phase, but experts propose prioritizing essential workers, followed by adults with multiple risk factors and then adults over 65.

Essential workers include teachers, employees in the agri-food industry, bus and train drivers, pharmacists, policemen and postmen.

(Also: UK approves Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine)

These are also often precarious workers, from Hispanic and Afro minorities, who are disproportionately from the pandemic. An injustice that
experts want to explicitly repair.

Will the prioritization in the application of the vaccine really be respected?

But in practice, these ethical, epidemiological and economic considerations could be ignored in the initial application of doses. Specific problems remain to be solved: while it is easy to focus on nursing homes and hospitals, How are pharmacists and doctors supposed to confirm that a customer is an essential worker or has two conditions?

Also, the government of Donald Trump said that it will not be subject to the advice of its health agency, and that nursing homes will get Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in mid-December in case it gets the green light from regulators.

AFP

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