For travelers hoping a COVID-19 vaccine will be available as early as next month, you’ll need to patient. The initial 40 million doses are already largely spoken for and travelers did not make the cut.
COVID-19 Vaccine: Who Will Have Priority?
Public health officials hope to have 20 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in hand by late December. The U.S. federal government is the launch customer, with a confirmed order of 100 million doses.
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Trump’s top infectious disease expert, those initial doses are reserved for health care workers and those in high-risk categories.
“We hope that we’ll be getting vaccine into people. The recommendation of who that will be will be finalized by the CDC – likely will be health-care workers, as well as people who are at a high risk for serious disease.”
Those at high risk for serious disease will include the most vulnerable senior citizens in nursing homes. Tragically, COVID-19 has ravaged nursing homes across the nation.
You’ll notice international travelers did not make the cut…
All of this is contingent upon FDA approval, though the success of late-stage clinical trials point to a likely approval in the weeks ahead. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC:
“We will independently call those balls and strikes on the data and evidence, but we’re going to do so as quickly as possible, consistent with just making sure the science, the evidence and the law support authorization.”
Let’s hope the FDA is more competent than the FAA…
CONCLUSION
Vaccines typically take a decade to prove safety and effectiveness. The fast-tracking of these vaccines is truly unprecedented, and not without some concern. U.S. travelers will have to wait for a vaccine, with preference given to health care workers and the most vulnerable.
Do you have any concerns over a vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna?
Who will have priority? LOL Trump, of course.
Well he is an obese 74 year old…=)
All the Republican who called it a hoax, the ssame dingbats who put religion over science.
America isn’t much different than middle east. Idiots getting power by using religion, but who probably don’t believe in but are given the votes/ power by people who can easily hoodwinked by cues about religion.
No more income tax exemption for religion.
I think people should have to be able to answer basic science, math and general knowledge questions before they get the vaccine. If they can’t, it wouldn’t be a big loss to the world if they died. The background reading for answering the questions should of course be provided.
Hmm but many people won’t be able to answer those questions through no fault of their own. Disabled/handicapped people don’t deserve to be thrown under the bus… In any case, being able to answer “Where is ATP produced in a cell” or “What is the square root of 36” isn’t exactly going to cure cancer
Should be done by age groups, oldest to youngest.
The vaccine will go to travel bloggers first so that they can do the important front-line work of reporting on whether the airline gives you a mother of pearl spoon with your caviar in first class!
With highest priority to US-based bloggers who enter Germany with a German passport and an urgent need to gather blog content.
So just Lucky from OMAAT? I don’t think Lucky is there just to gather blog content as being in Germany hasn’t been that much of a focus on his blog. Matthew can correct me if I’m wrong, but If you’re also referring to Matthew then I don’t think you’re correct about him having a German passport as he’s not a German citizen; his wife is.
Lucky is a dual national.
Debit should be first in line. It would be a tragedy for us to lose all that wisdom, knowledge and compassion he / she so frequently shares.
When I’m eligible, I’m getting a shot ASAP. Just knowing that I’m not going to pass on the virus makes it worthwhile. Personal protection makes it even better. Given the sheer size of the test group, I’m extremely comfortable with any safety concerns.
I have a friend in the industry and I trust his thoughts on a vaccine. My family will get ours as soon as we can.
I live in an area where many, many people refuse to wear masks, think COVID is a hoax and vaccines will contain tracking chips. Hopefully that will mean more access for people that believe in science.
let mother nature takes out the dumb and stupid naturally
It’s mostly the old and the fat who are dying. Getting old can’t be helped. Getting fat, on the other hand…
Stop hating yourself…behavior change is possible you know, try eating in a smaller window each day
Well said.
As soon as we can get ours, our family will be getting the vaccine(s).
Seems like the best impact for society would be to concentrate on teachers next, and then kids from oldest to youngest. Get kids back in school, get them back learning and growing. The last 8 months have been awful for children. Also allows many working parents to get back to work.
I don’t think we’ll ever go back to in-person learning, because everyone now seems to prefer online learning. Kids love going to school in their PJs, parents get to spend more time with their kids, teachers don’t have to work as hard, and the schools save money.
I live in a neighborhood full of children and what I’m hearing is the kids hate at-home learning and it creates a huge struggle for working parents. Obviously some thrive and some struggle, but the general feeling is that distance learning has annoying technological downsides and lacks accountability mechanisms that are easier for college learning online. I’m of the opinion that nothing replaces in-person learning and am glad my son is back in school.
My 8th grade son hated on-line learning in the spring and was thrilled to start high school in August. He was upset when he had to do on-line last week (surge in COVID cases) and is worried he won’t be able to go back to in person learning. Children and teens need peer interaction.
Agreed.
I have concerns that government hospitals will suck up all the vaccines and none available for my private doctor. The government hospitals should get the Pfizer vaccine since they have $50,000 to buy those -70 degree freezers.
Not that my opinion matters, but aren’t nursing homes the easiest to lockdown and control the spread? How are they still being ravaged? And if that is the case, why not shut those down instead of Restaurants since presumably they have a higher population of at risk people. I’m not in any way suggesting those people aren’t important, but putting them first? Why not put grocery store workers (or any front line employees) that have no choice but to be around other people for extended periods of time? Obviously the solution will be to do what benefits politicians first, whichever party those politicians are in.
Nursing homes require staff, and each staff member has a person life. They are not necessarily living like hermits, although I would hope they are extra-careful when they’re off-duty. You can lock down a nursing home, which is hard on families, but the biggest risk for an outbreak is still an infected staff member.
Surely, a Social Security number lottery is the only democratically fair way to allocate the initially limited resources.
I think for some of the wealthiest Americans out there, they should be able to get the vaccines early. If they desire to, of course. Some of the batches will probably be given to those who can afford to pay for the early access. However…I’d feel safer waiting. I’m not in a rush to get the vaccine; I think the reasonable person will wait and see if the first few millions Americans doesn’t have any significant issues post-shot.
Not that I think the rich should be able to get them early…but money talks in today’s world unfortunately. And my feeling is that a lot of the wealthier folks will just pay for first dib. And that only serves to mean less vaccines for everyone else…
In America, “the rules” don’t apply to politicians and the wealthy, so you are indeed right.