CDC recommends healthcare workers, nursing homes receive COVID-19 vaccines first

Editor's Note

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, on December 1, recommended prioritizing healthcare workers and residents and workers in long-term-care facilities to be the first recipients of the upcoming COVID-19 vaccines.

If CDC director Robert Redfield, MD, approves the recommendations, and the Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorizations, the initial supply of vaccines will be administered to an estimated 21 million healthcare workers and 3 million individuals working or living in long-term-care facilities.

The second phase of priority for vaccinations includes essential workers, such as educators, food and agriculture workers, utility workers, police, firefighters, corrections officers, and transportation employees.

The third phase includes those aged 65 years or older and adults with high-risk medical conditions.