US advisor recommends four stages for national coronavirus vaccine distribution

The National Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday a proposal to distribute a coronavirus vaccine in the United States. When the official use is approved.

According to the group, the vaccine will be distributed in four stages, first given to healthcare workers and vulnerable Americans, such as the elderly and people with underlying illnesses. They have devised the proposed guidelines at the request of the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first stage covers about 15% of the population, the group said.

“Front-line healthcare professionals are especially important in stopping pandemics and preventing death and serious illness,” the group wrote in a section of the report entitled “Rationale.” “Since the beginning of the pandemic, many frontline workers have been working in virus-exposed environments. Often there is no suitable PPE.

Phase 2 includes essential workers, teachers, homeless shelter people, prisons, prisons and detainees. All seniors not included in Phase 1 will be vaccinated in Phase 2.

The group defines prisoners as “anyone who has been convicted of a crime and deprived of individual liberty.”

“Data show that people in state and federal prisons are at a 5.5x higher risk than Covid-19 compared to the general US population,” the group wrote.

Phase 3 includes young people, children, and workers in the industry who are “indispensable to the functioning of society” and at risk of getting a virus. According to the group, about 85% to 95% of the country will be vaccinated by the end of Phase 3. Phase 4 includes everyone who has not been vaccinated.

By the end of the year, pharmaceutical companies compete to find safe and effective vaccines, so scientists and infectious disease specialists are worried about who gets the vaccine first and how. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading infectious disease specialist in the United States, the US will initially have a limited supply of vaccine doses that are not widely available until “months” through 2021.

Many health professionals say that the highest risk groups, such as health care workers and the elderly, poor and minority communities who are overly affected by the virus, should be vaccinated first.

President Donald Trump had previously told reporters at a White House press conference he told reporters that the coronavirus vaccine should probably go first to the elderly and to the most vulnerable, but he did not know the doctor’s expertise in that decision. Added that he would rely on.

In its draft, the National Academy pointed out that the data show that people of color are overly affected by the virus.

This is “biologically mediated, but rather there is no evidence that it reflects the effects of racism, and there is a high rate of comorbidities that increase the severity of Covid-19 infection and the possibility of acquiring the infection. Socio-economic factors that increase the number of people,” said the group.

The group also receives the taxpayer’s funds for the vaccine under development, so it is essential to deliver the vaccine to all individuals, regardless of “state of social and economic resources, employment, immigration or insurance”. Said.

The United States has already invested billions of dollars in six potential vaccines, including vaccines from pharmaceutical companies, as part of the Trump administration’s Operations Warp Speed ​​initiative. Pfizer And modern, Is in Phase 3 trials.

“Individuals with unclear legal status should be reassured that being willing to receive the vaccine will not result in deportation and will not be used against them in immigration procedures.”

The group is also concerned that late-stage trials of vaccines ruled out pregnant women who were at higher risk of adverse Covid-19-related outcomes than non-pregnant women.

Citizens can provide feedback on the framework during a four-day public comment period that starts on Tuesday at 12:00 pm EST and ends on Friday at 11:59 pm EST.