A federal advisory panel recommended Sunday that both the nation’s oldest, most vulnerable people and front-line essential workers be offered the next place in line for Covid-19 vaccines, hoping to use limited vaccine supplies in early 2021 both to reduce hospitalizations and deaths and slow transmission of the virus.
This next group would include people ages 75 and older, whose hospitalization and death rates are the highest of all age groups. It would also include teachers, factory workers, police and firefighters, grocery store workers and others who are considered essential to the functioning of the economy and at high risk of exposure to Covid-19.
A third group would follow them, comprised of people between the ages of 65 and 74, anyone age 16 or over with a medical condition that puts them at high risk of complications from Covid-19, and other essential workers. They include people who work in transportation and logistics, food service, water and wastewater, and energy sectors.
