Who’s next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine after front line health care workers?
As vaccinations against the virus that causes COVID-19 ramped up across Washington state Wednesday, health authorities still have yet to determine who is next in line for the vaccine.
It might be late spring or early summer until everyone in Washington who wants to be vaccinated will be able to receive the shot, said Assistant Health Secretary Michele Roberts during a state media briefing on the pandemic.
With coronavirus vaccines still seeking approval, the situation is unpredictable, Health Secretary John Wiseman said. News about the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccines changes daily.
“The best thing we’re going to be able to do, I think for some time, is really kind of look a few weeks ahead and see what things look like, certainly in the beginning,” he said.
“We know who is in line for the vaccine at the moment, and that is high risk workers in health care settings, high risk first responders and residents and staff of long-term health care facilities,” Roberts said.
No decisions have been made who is following those groups, she said.
Currently, the state is in Phase 1A of its vaccination program. It’s presumed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make recommendations on Phases 1B and 1C in the next week, Roberts said. In the state’s vaccination plan it submitted to the federal government, those groups include people with underlying health conditions and essential workers.
“We don’t anticipate expanding beyond these 1A groups until mid-January at the earliest,” Roberts said.
The state is working on systems that would allow the public to assess their status in line and get notified when they are able to receive the vaccination. Health care providers would also be able to notify their patients, Roberts said.
“Everybody is going to have more than one way to find out and search where there are in line and where they go to get the vaccine,” she said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 31,200 doses of the vaccine had been delivered to Washington and 410 of those doses had been administered, according to state data. Another 29,250 doses were scheduled to arrive by the end of the week, according to Roberts. Another 1,950 doses will go to tribal health agencies.
