TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey this week made millions of people eligible to receive the covid-19 vaccine, including smokers, a move that has generated complaints about them skipping the front of the inoculation line.
Democratic Governor Phil Murphy elected people aged 65 and over and those aged 16 and over with health problems eligible to receive the vaccine. It started Thursday. New Jersey’s disease list reflects that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and includes cancer, kidney disease and other diseases.
Smoking is also listed. Wait. Because?
Here’s a closer look at an issue that made headlines this week.
Why is smoking on a list of medical conditions?
This refers to people who are at “significant risk” of adverse diseases caused by the coronavirus. Smokers are included in the group because tobacco use inhibits their lungs, and COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, health officials say.
But there is more than that.
Murphy and New Jersey health commissioner Judy Persichilli said the state’s vaccination scheme is about vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible, starting with those who are most susceptible to serious illnesses caused by the virus.
Murphy put it this way, “We can’t be overly bureaucratic about it.”
Teachers, in particular, raised concerns that smokers could get the vaccine before them.
Don’t divide people into “Work A versus Work B,” said the governor.
What about other states?
New Jersey, like other states, is using CDC guidelines to determine who is in which category. For example, the cohort over 65 and those with medical conditions are grouped. Smokers are included in the CDC guidelines, so this is not a New Jersey idea.
But what varies by state is when each group receives the vaccine. New Jersey started with healthcare professionals, nursing home staff and residents, then moved on to first aid, such as police and fire.
Next came the elderly and those with health problems, but other states followed different directions. For example, teachers are eligible in many states as part of what the CDC calls population 1b, including neighboring New York and Pennsylvania, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, but not yet in New Jersey.
What is the problem with smoking?
Smoking is no longer common and it is fashionable to decrease and become stigmatized in recent decades, as more information about its dangerous effects on people’s health has become known. Businesses and governments have suppressed smoking in the workplace and in restaurants.
In 1998, an agreement between tobacco companies and most states limited marketing and demanded that companies pay an annual fee to states, forever.
Health insurers also charge an extra fee to smokers.
So why, people ask, should someone who consciously started smoking smoke be on an equal footing with, say, an octogenarian who is also at risk but doesn’t smoke?
The state health department indicates that nicotine in tobacco products is addictive and that people who smoke should quit, and if they need help, they can get it at njquitline.org.
A bigger problem?
Although the addition of smokers to the list of people eligible to be vaccinated has drawn attention, a major problem is at stake: the lack of vaccine supply.
For example, New Jersey is currently receiving approximately 100,000 doses per week. But about 470,000 a week would be needed to meet the demand forecast, Persichilli said.
That would be enough to vaccinate 70% of the adult population, or 4.7 million people, in about six months, which is the state’s goal.
The governor put it this way: The offer is not meeting the demand.
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Coronavirus | Health | USA / World News