Seniors over 75 were invited to attend Tuesday’s vaccination clinic at Centro Civico Daphne. The same happened with police and firefighters.
Everyone in the second tier? It is a matter of patience, according to state officials.
But the new priority system is irritating other professionals, especially the state’s largest association representing public school teachers.
Other organizations that represent so-called “frontline” workers also expect the state to pay attention to them. The Alabama Grocers Association is encouraging state leaders to make them a priority for the COVID-19 vaccine, while national organizations for transit drivers and school bus passengers are reminding governors to prioritize their workers.
To make the issue more baffling, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that they were recommending states to expand the vaccine’s eligibility to everyone aged 65 and over, which is an age group that was originally in the third wave and with lower priority than frontline workers.
The system, some fear, could pit professional occupations considered “essential” against each other, as pressure increases for COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed to more professionals who meet the public on a daily basis. Leading the attack is the Alabama Education Association, which is sounding the alarm about the delay in receiving shots of COVID-19 in the arms of thousands of teachers and support staff, even when they return for the spring semester.
“The Alabama Education Association considers the delay in COVID-19 vaccination for educators unscrupulous,” said Theron Stokes, associate executive director of the AEA and head of the organization’s legal division. The AEA is Alabama’s largest educational association and represents public school employees in the state.
“Our educators are at the forefront of this pandemic and have gone beyond their duty since March last year,” added Stokes. “Alabama State and Department of Public Health Superintendent Eric Mackey must assist in obtaining sufficient supplies for school districts – and must ensure that all employees who wish to receive the vaccine can receive it immediately after health professionals and those over 75 years of age. “
The Alabama Grocers Association, meanwhile, wants its employees to be prioritized on the so-called vaccination line. Supermarket workers, according to the group’s president, remained “flexible, agile and resilient” during the pandemic.
Ellie Taylor, president of the state’s grocery association, said her organization “has been working closely with the Alabama Department of Public Health and the governor’s office to ensure the food industry” is a top priority for a vaccine .
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and state health officials say there is a limit on vaccines available.
“It is not about who is the most important,” said Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola. “It is about protecting some of our most vulnerable, like our healthcare professionals and the elderly, and putting this vaccine in as many arms as possible.”
‘We need the police’
The “Back the Blue” rallies took place last year as a way to support law enforcement after the protests and riots that occurred during the summer of 2020. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special for PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special for PennLive
Alabama is largely following the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in administering its COVID-19 vaccines, although some local agencies have made adjustments. These protocols divide allocations into three phases, 1a, 1b and 1c. Since December, Alabama has administered Phase 1a, which includes frontline health workers and people living in a long-term institution / asylum.
Phase 1b, as defined by the CDC, includes a range of occupations and people aged 75 and over. This phase includes police and firefighters, food and agriculture workers, grocery workers, US Postal workers, manufacturing workers, daycare workers and teachers and support staff.
People aged 65 to 75 were listed in Phase 1c, behind these groups, but President Donald Trump’s government last week suggested that they be moved to the front of the queue immediately. Some states have started vaccinating people aged 65 and over, others have not. Alabama, no. The state only started to reach 75 or more, as well as first responders, on Monday.
Health officials and the governor’s office advocate the inclusion of police and firefighters among those considered essential and at risk of contracting COVID-19. Unlike grocery store workers and teachers, police officers and firefighters are unable to obtain adequate safeguards – such as protective equipment, such as facial coverings – to protect themselves while doing their jobs.
“Individuals like our health care professionals – who are literally at the forefront of fighting the virus – and our elders are groups that are considered some of the most vulnerable,” said Maiola. “Individuals such as police and firefighters are also on the front lines, and sometimes, by nature, they cannot have adequate safeguards to protect themselves.”
Dr. Mark Wilson, health officer for the Jefferson County Department of Public Health, said that county agencies are aligning their plans with the state and that includes vaccinating people over 75, police and firefighters first.
Wilson said adding police and firefighters as a top priority was a “trial” made by the state. He said he called the first respondents “critical infrastructure” that, if the loss through a COVID-19 superspring event, could put a community at risk.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have had times when certain fire departments in Jefferson County were in serious trouble,” said Wilson. “They had so many people who had or were quarantined. It was scary. The same is true of the police and law enforcement, where their ability to respond to emergencies has been threatened by the virus. “
Alabama statistics show that 158,000 people in Alabama have received a vaccine so far, and less than 500,000 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to the state. Dr. Karen Landers of ADPH said that the number of health professionals, first responders (police and firefighters) and people over 75 is almost 700,000 people.
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Wilson said: “I think most people can understand the importance of teachers and education and how it is fundamental to our children and our future, but we need the police to arrive and the firefighters to come when we need them. I think most people understand that. “
‘Safe and healthy’
Wilson said he spoke to Mackey last week about the slack schedule for teacher vaccinations, which could occur as early as next month. Teachers are already being vaccinated in at least 17 states, including Arkansas, where they became eligible to receive their first injection on Monday.
Teachers in two counties in Alabama – Tallapoosa and Marion – are being vaccinated after nearby hospitals offered unused doses of vaccine. As of Friday, only 50% of school staff are taking the doses offered, which worried state superintendent Eric Mackey.
Wilson said that for teachers, when they complete the two-dose regimen, “it will be near the end of the school year”.
This schedule is unlikely to please the EEA.
Said Stokes, “Our educators play a crucial role in providing educational services to students and their families. To continue to provide these services, they must have access to the resources necessary to stay safe and healthy. “
Wilson said that schools, for the most part, have been “relatively successful in their mitigation practices”, which require facial coverage inside school buildings and remote learning options.
“Often for children, certainly, it is almost always them catching the virus doing something outside of school and not at school,” said Wilson. “For teachers, it’s the same story. They succeeded at home or elsewhere and it was not purchased in the classroom. “
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies that are receiving vaccines are seeing somewhat irregular participation. The Mobile and Montgomery sheriff’s agencies are reporting a participation rate of around 50% among those qualified to receive a COVID-19 injection.
In Baldwin County, Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said he received his first COVID-19 vaccine, but that only half of the department’s employees showed interest in getting vaccinated.
“We are encouraging employees to get the vaccine not just to protect themselves, but to restrict the spread of the virus due to the multiple public interactions that the police have due to the nature of the work,” said Mack.
‘Policy involved’
Raising Alabama police officers to the top of the priority schedule for COVID-19 vaccinations may be related to political preference, according to Dr. Jan Kates, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a health policy organization with San Francisco headquarters that is monitoring the COVID-19 prioritization plans for each state.
Alabama and other states led by Republican lawmakers tend to support more police and firefighters, as evidence of the “Back the Blue” campaign signaling in cities across the state. State lobbies that protect law enforcement interests tend to be among some of the most powerful in Montgomery, where police reform measures, such as confiscation of civilian assets, racial discrimination and legalization of marijuana, often reach political barriers.
“There is politics involved in that, for sure,” said Kates. “But when it comes to rescuers, they have been identified as a group that faces greater risks and workers who are necessary for the essential functioning of communities. They cannot stay at home and telework. They need to interact with the audience. The idea is to vaccinate them so that they are safer, since they are being asked to do something at risk ”.
She added: “Do you prioritize them before teachers? These are difficult choices that everyone faces because there is not enough vaccine ”.
Thomas Shaw, a professor of political science at the University of South Alabama, said Alabama does not stand out because it prioritizes police and fire. Referring to KFF data, Shaw pointed out that some states that are not as conservative as Alabama – such as Nevada and New Hampshire – place law enforcement in Phase 1a, which is higher than the first part of Phase 1b of Alabama.
He stressed that New York also prioritized the police.
“I’m not sure if I’m fully convinced that there is an ideological motivation behind this variation or there could be several motivations,” said Shaw. “It may be that, for states like Alabama, it is a little, but probably not completely ideological; whereas somewhere like New York may be more influenced by the priority given to law enforcement and firefighters in the post-911 world. “
Kates said there may be sudden changes in the way vaccines are delivered after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden said his government plans to “manage hell out of” the vaccination program and place more responsibility in the hands of the federal government.
“This is a week-to-week change,” said Kates. “A lot can change in the next month.”
For now, Wilson and others are trying to calm concerned professionals, whose employees are interacting with the public.
“I’m getting a lot of messages from other entities, like public transport and airport authorities … many people have compelling reasons to say that we need the vaccine,” said Wilson. “We don’t have enough.”