As we move forward with vaccinations in the top priority group and prepare for the next round, Americans are looking at the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out who is next. However, it appears that some states may disregard the institute’s suggestions. Although many were on board with the vaccine being sent to health professionals and those in long-term care facilities, some states are not so sure about subsequent guidelines. To see which states have decided to change the order of priority vaccine groups, read on and for more vaccine news, find out The only side effect that Dr. Fauci is concerned about with his next injection of COVID.
Since health professionals and people in long-term care facilities are vaccinated, the CDC suggests moving on to essential workers and anyone over 75. Essential workers include teachers, police, first responders, firefighters, grocery workers, transport workers and others whose jobs cannot be done at home. After these two groups, the CDC recommends that adults with high-risk medical conditions and anyone over 65 be vaccinated afterwards.
However, these are only recommendations and, ultimately, the order of vaccinations will be determined by each individual state, which will lead to some discrepancies about who will have access to the vaccine sooner. And for more up-to-date information, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
The Texas Department of Health Services (DSHS) announced on December 21 that it is choosing to ignore the CDC’s recommendations, according to The week. Instead of vaccinating essential workers next, Texas will inoculate anyone over 65, pregnant women and people with high-risk health problems, including cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and sickle cell disease.
“The next wave will be different by state,” said the admiral. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said during a December 27 interview with Fox News Sunday. Giroir pointed out that the governor of Texas Greg Abbott planned to deviate from the CDC’s recommendations to prioritize those over 65. “Because these are the people who go to hospitals,” said Giroir. “It’s not the 24-year-old frontline worker who has a low risk of getting the infection and a very, very low risk of getting serious results from it, but over 65.” And to dispel some common misconceptions, Dr. Fauci has just debunked the 4 biggest myths about the COVID vaccine.
Texas is not the only state that deviates from the CDC’s suggestions. According to Giroir, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is giving priority to anyone over 70 years old. Giroir said we should expect to see other states making similar decisions.
“I think that variability is extremely important because as hospitals get crowded, the first priority really needs to be saving lives and reducing the burden on hospitals,” said Giroir. “You are seeing this in Texas and Florida, and you will probably see it in many other states.” And to learn more about the vaccine launch, if you did it in 2020, you can get your COVID vaccine sooner.
According to the CDC’s recommendations, teachers are next for vaccination as essential workers, but Giroir disagrees with that order. “Healthy young teachers shouldn’t be more at risk than healthy young people in any other profession,” he said.
Giroir thinks that teachers should be moved “further down the priority scale because we need to look after those who are vulnerable – who are going to die, who are going to be hospitalized”. And to learn more about how the vaccine will affect you, The CDC is warning you to prepare for these side effects of the COVID vaccine.