Hospitals are scrambling for plans to determine if health care workers can receive the Covid-19 vaccine first, with the expectation of an initial supply of the amount needed to vaccinate all high-priority employees.
Enough is expected to deliver the December vaccine to about 200 million people, according to federal officials. All of that front line is little less than what is needed to vaccinate medical professionals and long-term care residents – the groups recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Panel should be in the first line.
Federal estimates show that these high-priority groups include approximately 24 million people – 21 million health care workers and 30 million residents of long-term care facilities.
It is up to the hospitals to decide which of their high-priority employees should go first. Nebraska Medicine, hospitals and clinics affiliated with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will use the lottery. The Mayo Clinic is combing to determine who tops the list through occupational risk data. In Boston, Mass prefer Brigham Hospital units where workers are most exposed to people with Covid-19.
The CDC said priority should go to health care workers who come into direct contact with Covid-19 patients and their families and infectious materials. Workers with Covid-19 waited 90 days from infection before seeking vaccination, the CDC said.
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