Many factors play into the answer, and it depends on the health of each person, what they do to live and where they live.
This means that you continue to wear masks, have social distance, avoid large gatherings and wash your hands regularly.
You have more questions; here are more answers:
Who is vaccinated first?
Who is an essential worker?
The ACIP defines essential workers at the forefront as all those working in ‘sectors essential for the functioning of society (which have a significantly higher risk of being exposed’ to the coronavirus. working in education and child care, food and agriculture, manufacturing, repairs, the U.S. Postal Service, public transportation, and grocery stores, there are about 30 million people in this category.
Other essential workers, according to ACIP, are people working in transport, logistics, food service, construction, housing, finance, information technology, communications, energy, sanitation, media, law, public health and the water / wastewater industry. That category includes about 57 million Americans.
When will the general public get the vaccine?
It is a moving target determined by numerous variables. Dr Vivek Murthy, Biden’s nominee as surgeon general, said he believed it could take until late in the spring to get the high-risk population vaccinated, if it goes according to plan. That means mid-summer could be a ‘realistic’ timeline for the general public to start getting vaccinated, he told NBC last month.
“If all goes well, we may see a situation where people who are in a lower risk category can get this vaccine by late spring,” he said, “but it would really require everything to go exactly according to schedule. I think it is more realistic to assume that it could be closer to mid-summer, early autumn, when this vaccine goes to the general population. “
A recent ACIP card indicated that the general public could start getting the vaccine within about twenty weeks, setting the target in May, which is also a similar agreement with what I thought, ” Hannan said.
Because states will handle different implementations, Hannan says it’s a good idea for people to monitor the State Health Center’s websites for specific information. “Some states are setting up ‘dashboards’ that face the public,” she said. The Department of Health in New Mexico on Wednesday announced a website that allows residents to register for notifications about when they are eligible to receive the vaccine.
How much will it cost?
The federal government has spent billions of dollars to purchase vaccine doses from a number of companies – including Pfizer and Moderna – and as a result, vaccines are free to Americans.
What factors drive the deployment phases?
The two most important factors are supply and demand – essentially how much vaccine is available and how many people want to receive it, Hannan said.
While Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines have already received emergency approval, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have vaccines at the factory, which would increase supply if approved, she said.
As for the demand, it will depend on how many people are available for injections in the first vaccination phase. If the numbers are high in the priority groups, it will take longer to move on to the general public phase, Hannan said.
“So far, there seems to be a huge demand that health care workers are excited to get the vaccine. They are queuing up to get it. They are posting photos of themselves to get it,” she said.
Health workers do not want doses that are unused, so there will be differences from state to state. She said, for example, that if priority groups in one state are more reluctant to be vaccinated, it could reach the general public faster because the state will move to the next stage to use the doses.
The Kentucky Health Commissioner, dr. Steven Stack, said the guidelines “should not stand in the way” of facilities using their doses. He said officials “must be flexible, otherwise we can not administer the vaccine.”
“A shot in a willing arm is ultimately a higher priority than a shot in only certain arms,” he said.
What power does the state have?
The vaccine providers have committed to following ACIP guidelines, but there is room, Hannan said.
“States will give their own guidance, and just based on where they send the vaccine, states make decisions about who gets it first,” she said.
ACIP provides “the compass that everyone follows,” she said, but states have discretion when it comes to issues such as underlying conditions and essential workers. One state may, based on its circumstances, choose to prioritize seniors or long-term care facilities over health workers.
“The categories are broad enough to make states more focused or less focused on certain populations,” she said.
With limited doses as at present, observers do not see much variation from state to state, but differences will become clearer as the vaccine becomes more available.
Who makes decisions at the state level?
It will ultimately fall to state governors to make calls about who gets the vaccinations and when, Hannan said.
However, most states have advisory committees or task forces in their health and preparedness agencies that will make recommendations to governors.
Government officials can also rely on ACIP guidance, and the CDC has a jurisdiction book, which, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, is the “strategy for delivering and administering a COVID-19 vaccine as quickly and efficiently as possible. . ”
“It’s hard for governors to stray too far,” Hannan said. “Hopefully we will not see it become political.”
Government DeSantis, who appeared at a vaccination press event in The Villages, a retirement community in Florida, last month, disregarded the CDC guidelines and said the state would not have to follow them.
“If you were a 22-year-old working in a food service – let’s say in a supermarket – you would prefer a 74-year-old grandmother. I do not think that is the direction we want to go.”
What if people try to cut the line?
This is a matter that each state will have to deal with separately, Hannan said, but according to the grand scheme of a nationwide vaccination campaign, it is not the most worrying issue.
On the one hand, it is an indication of high demand, which means more acceptance of vaccine, she said. On the other hand, those who administer the vaccine have enough concern without checking the identity, occupation, or medical history of everyone. It’s all a matter of balance, she said.
“We do not want to turn people away, and we do not want vaccines to sit,” she said. “States will have to address this when situations like this happen, rather than letting people go through a lot of hoops. … I don’t think it’s a great thing, but I want it rather than people not wanting it. the vaccine. ‘
CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht, Jacqueline Howard, Jen Christensen, Shawn Nottingham, Jenn Selva, Rose Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.