US panel to decide who should get the first COVID-19 shots

US panel to decide who should get the first COVID-19 shots

SeattlePI.com

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NEW YORK (AP) — An influential scientific panel on Tuesday was set to tackle one of the most pressing questions in the U.S. coronavirus outbreak: Who should be at the front of the line when the first vaccine shots become available?

The U.S. government's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices scheduled an open-to-the-public, virtual meeting to vote on a proposal that would give priority to health care workers and nursing home patients.

The two groups together represent around 23 million Americans out of a U.S. population of about 330 million.

Later this month, the Food and Drug Administration will consider approval of two vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. Current estimates project that no more than 20 million doses of each vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. And each product requires two doses.

As a result, the shots will be rationed in the early stages.

The panel will meet again at some point to decide who should be next in line. Among the possibilities: teachers, police, firefighters and workers in other essential fields such as food production and transportation; the elderly; and people with underlying medical conditions.

Experts say the vaccine will probably not become widely available in the U.S. until the spring.

The 15-member panel of outside experts, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who almost always approves them.

The recommendations are not binding, but for decades they have been widely heeded by doctors, and they have determined the scope and funding of U.S. vaccination programs.

It will be up to state authorities whether to follow the guidance. It will also be left to them to make further, more detailed decisions if necessary — for example, whether to put...

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