US CDC recommends frontline workers & senior citizens for next round of COVID vaccination

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Sunday voted to prioritise frontline essential workers and elderly people for the next phase of the vaccination campaign in the country. An advisory panel of the CDC agreed on December 20 that frontline workers such as firefighters, police, teachers, etc, who are involved in the day to day functioning of the society and people above the age of 75 will be next in line for COVID-19 vaccines.

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30 million people prioritised 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13 to 1 in favour of prioritising frontline essential workers and the elderly for the next round of vaccination. According to the CDC, 30 million people will be covered in the next round and will include public transit workers, grocery store workers, US Postal service workers, people working in the manufacturing sector, and the food & agriculture sector.

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It remains unclear exactly when the second round of vaccination will begin for these groups dubbed as Phase 1b by the CDC. Currently, health care professionals, who fall under Phase 1a are being vaccinated across the United States. The advisory panel's decision to prioritise frontline essential workers and elderly people next comes two days after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorisation to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. 

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The FDA had earlier granted approval to American firm Pfizer and German company BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, following which the vaccination drive in the country for health care professionals began. Now that Moderna has been given approval, the United States is expecting to receive more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The United States remains the worst affected country in the world with more than 1.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 3,00,000 deaths so far. 

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