CNN reports:
“The priority groups include pregnant women; health care and emergency services personnel; children, adolescents and young adults up to age 24; household and caregiver contacts of children younger than six months; and healthy adults with certain medical conditions.
The guidelines were approved in a near-unanimous vote by the 15-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. One person dissented on whether to include people ages 19 to 24 among those targeted…
The targeted groups differ starkly from the recommendations for seasonal flu vaccine campaigns, which include people 65 and older in the highest-risk group.
The difference is based largely on data showing vastly higher infection rates among younger people; the rate of laboratory-confirmed cases in Americans 65 and older is just 0.06 per 100,000, compared with 2.6 per 100,000 for the group with the highest infection rates, children 5 to 11.”
Oh, and just in case you were feeling hopeful, here is this uplifting quote:
“The virus and the vaccine are in a race; the virus may win… It’s like thinking about a hurricane. You batten down the hatches. You do everything you can. But when the hurricane arrives, damage will occur. This one is going to be a doozy.”