A CDC expert panel voted 13–1 on Tuesday to recommend that the first COVID-19 vaccines should go to healthcare workers and nursing homes as soon as they are authorized by the FDA, a decision expected later this month.

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vote prioritizes both populations equally for the first vaccines, coming amid a surging nationwide pandemic. The meeting finalized months of vaccine distribution planning by the committee’s experts and federal officials, who had to balance medical ethics, what science has learned about people with the highest risk, and ease of mass vaccination for these populations.

The debate over who should get the first vaccines reached a fever pitch with recent reports of Trump administration officials pressing for seniors over age 65 to receive vaccines ahead of healthcare workers.

“My vote reflects maximizing benefits, minimizing harms, promoting justice, and minimizing inequities in distributing these vaccines,” said panel chair José Romero, secretary of health at the Arkansas Department of Health.

If the ACIP recommendations are approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield, they become agency guidelines as soon as they are published by the …continued .
[Source: Buzzfeed]