Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Advises Health Care Workers, Then Nursing Homes Get First Shots
Stat: Health Workers, Long-Term Care Facilities Should Get Covid-19 Vaccine First, CDC Advisory Panel Says
A committee that advises the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to recommend that health care providers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities be at the front of the line for Covid-19 vaccine. The recommendation must still be accepted by CDC Director Robert Redfield. (Branswell, 12/1)
The New York Times: Long-Term-Care Residents And Health Workers Should Get Vaccine First, C.D.C. Panel Says
The panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 13 to 1 during an emergency meeting to make the recommendation. The director of the C.D.C., Dr. Robert R. Redfield, is expected to decide by Wednesday whether to accept it as the agency’s formal guidance to states as they prepare to start giving people the shots as soon as two weeks from now. “We are acting none too soon,” said Dr. Beth Bell, a panel member and global health expert at the University of Washington, noting that Covid-19 would kill about 120 Americans during the meeting alone. (Goodnough, 12/2)
The Washington Post: Health-Care Workers And Nursing Homes Should Get Covid Vaccine First
The recommendations for the highest-priority groups, known as Phase 1a, will be sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, who also informs Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. If the recommendations are approved, they will become official CDC recommendations on immunization in the United States and provide guidance to state officials, who are scrambling to meet a Friday deadline for vaccine distribution planning. (Sun and Stanley-Becker, 12/1)
NPR: Health Care Workers, Nursing Home Residents To Be Prioritized For COVID-19 Vaccine
The CDC estimates that most people in these high-priority groups could be fully vaccinated by early next year if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes a vaccine by mid-December, as is currently anticipated. But because supplies will be short in the first few weeks after that authorization, individual health care and long-term care facilities will likely need to determine their own priority schedules for vaccination once they've obtained the vaccine. Long-term care facilities include nursing homes, assisted living and other residential facilities. (Huang, 12/1)
Politico: CDC Panel Says First Covid-19 Vaccine Doses Should Go To Health Workers, Long-Term Care Residents
The lone dissenter: Helen Keipp Talbot, an associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was the only panel member to vote against the recommendation. She raised concerns that long-term care facilities do not have enough experience with using the government's system for reporting adverse events from vaccination, and that there is not enough data on the performance of Covid-19 vaccines in elderly populations. (Lim, 12/1)
In related news —
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Mixed On Imposing Staff COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates
Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has no plans to make a coronavirus vaccine mandatory for staff in the next year, according to Dr. John Segreti, a hospital epidemiologist and medical director of infection control and prevention at Rush. He said the provider's decision stems from supply and delivery uncertainties, as well as questions about potential adverse reactions from the vaccines. "I think the healthcare industry will strongly encourage their (healthcare personnel) to get vaccinated — I doubt many will mandate it this year," he said. (Ross Johnson, 12/1)
CNN: Before Americans Can Get Their Covid-19 Vaccines, Some Pharmacies Need Big Upgrades
In the fight against Covid-19, the US government is enlisting pharmacies to administer vaccines to hundreds of millions of Americans — an endeavor with unprecedented scale that presents a host of challenges for companies big and small across the United States. Although some companies are ready to store and administer the Covid-19 vaccine, others aren't. (Benveniste, 12/1)
The Hill: Fauci Says US Could Have Herd Immunity By End Of Summer 2021
The nation’s top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that the U.S could have “herd immunity” to COVID-19 by the end of the summer in 2021 if Americans across the country get vaccinated against the disease. In a Tuesday news conference with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), Fauci predicted that high-risk groups of Americans, as well as health care workers and some others, could begin to be vaccinated this month, with inoculations continuing through March. (Pitofsky, 12/1)
