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In the US, millions of medically vulnerable people who were initially named as a leading group for vaccinations were slowly knocked off the list when the CDC changed its guidelines to benefit the elderly, regardless of their physical condition, and workers in a wide variety. of work sectors, according to the AP. North Carolina is just one of 24 states that place people under 65 with “underlying medical conditions” near the bottom of the pack to receive the vaccine, according to Jen Kates of the Kaiser Family Foundation. In a report she wrote last month, Pennsylvania is mentioned as the only state that makes vaccines available to medically vulnerable people during the first distribution phase. When North Carolina announced its first guideline in October, it put people with multiple chronic conditions at the top of the list. However, in response to the CDC’s recommendations in December to prioritize people aged 75 and older, those with chronic conditions dropped to phase 2.
When the guidelines changed again to extend the suitability for 65 people, medically vulnerable residents learned in January that they would fall to phase 4 – to be vaccinated to ‘essential workers in the front line’ but in front of ‘everyone’. The state’s top public health official says these residents have been removed from the list after health officials received data showing that older residents are more likely to die from COVID-19. In response to the frustrations of such patients, states are now reviewing their guidelines again. As of Monday, 28 states, including North Carolina, have at least partially opened access to vaccines across the country for those with high-risk medical conditions, Kates said. Four other states make the vaccine available to medically vulnerable residents living in certain provinces. Maura Wozniak, a 42-year-old resident of Charlotte in the area with cystic fibrosis, cried after learning she would soon be eligible. “There’s at least one window now,” she says.
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