CDC advisers: People over 75, essential workers next in line for vaccine

47 ABC – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has voted 13-1 to prioritize adults ages 75 and older as well as frontline essential workers to receive COVID-19 vaccines in phase 1b of allocation.

The committee vote also included prioritizing adults ages 65 to 75, people ages 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions and other essential workers in Phase 1c of allocation.

The committee met on Sunday to discuss phases 1b and 1c of vaccine distribution. In a previous meeting earlier this month, the group voted on phase 1a, which advised giving the first round of vaccines to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

The developments occurred as the nation seeks to ramp up a vaccination program that only began in the last week and so far has given initial shots to about 556,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trucks left the Olive Branch, Mississippi, factory, near Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday with the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. The much-needed shots are expected to be given starting Monday, just three days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized their emergency rollout.

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