(Photo Twitter / @ CVSHealth)
PHOENIX – The panel of health experts who make priority recommendations in COVID-19 vaccination in Arizona has moved adults aged 75 and over in a longer period of months.
The 75-year-old group and above is now part of a new classification, prioritized 1B, which also includes teachers, childcare workers and law enforcement occupations, according to the latest allocation recommendations of the Vaccination Advisory Committee. Arizona and antivirals.
An estimated 530,000 Arizona people are over the age of 75, a demographic group at increased risk of becoming seriously ill or dying of coronavirus. Reprioritization is expected to help reduce the burden on Arizona hospitals, which are falling under the weight of the record number of COVID-19 patients.
“As we look at prioritization, what we are trying to do is make sure that those with the worst outcomes, such as hospitalizations and death, are prioritized early to receive the vaccine, one that will protect people from the potential to death, ”said Arizona Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ KTAR 92.3 FM news Tuesday.
Priority 1B is behind only 1A in the state plan, which now has four levels of priority populations. The change does not affect residents of long-term care institutions, which are part of Phase 1A and have already started receiving vaccines.
Christ said that the process of informing people in the new classification knows that they are eligible will vary by county and is still being developed.
“We will make announcements as we get more information about how to register, but we look at a lot of different mechanisms,” she said.
“We are working with the counties to identify if they will have mass vaccination sites, if they will be able to go to pharmacies, if we will have mobile vaccination clinics that can go to people’s homes.”
Vaccinations for priority 1B are expected to begin in mid to late January, although they could begin earlier in some counties, Christ said.
Christ said that the last priority phases are expected to be completed by February or March, with phase 2, the general population, starting in March or April.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, adults 75 years of age and older who contract COVID-19 are eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 220 times more likely to die than those between the ages of 18 and 29. for years.
In the previous version of the plan, which was updated on December 14, approximately 1.2 million state adults over the age of 65 were prioritized in Phase 1C, which was then the third of the three priority groups. There was no separate category for people over 75 years of age.
The Advisory Committee on Vaccine and Antiviral Prioritization meets regularly to make recommendations on how to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona, while reserves are limited.
The committee is comprised of state, local and tribal experts, including representatives from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Local health officials or tribal authorities can change the recommendations to suit their needs.
Monday’s update aligns with the new recommendations of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Christ said.
Vaccine distribution began in Arizona two weeks ago for Phase 1A people, which includes front-line health care staff, emergency care workers and residents, and long-term care staff.
Christ said so far nearly 40,000 shots have been fired in Arizona.
Federal officials have approved the emergency use authorization for two vaccines, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, with efficacy rates of over 90%. Both require two photos a few weeks apart for full efficiency.
Moderna vaccines are more easily distributed on many sites because they can be stored in regular freezers.
Pfizer vaccines, which are currently administered at five Phoenix subway locations, must be stored at extremely cold temperatures in specially designed freezers.
KTAR News 92.3 Ali Vetnar FM contributed to this report.