Older People, Some Essential Workers Should Get Vaccines Next, CDC Panel Says

National Public Radio reports that a federal advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people 75 and older and frontline essential workers should be next in line to get a COVID-19 vaccine, after frontline health care workers and nursing community residents. The panel's vote, which passed with 13 in favor and one opposing, established the group's recommendation for the remainder of Phase 1 of vaccine distribution. The vote determined that adults 75 and older, as well as frontline workers key to societal functioning — like teachers, police officers, fire fighters, prison officers, and grocery store workers — should be prioritized in Phase 1b, which is expected to start in January. Access to COVID-19 vaccines in Phase 1c would expand to adults 65 and older, along with people with underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and other critical non-frontline workers including those working in trucking and food service.