The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) earlier this month listed smoking among conditions that put people at high risk of contracting “severe COVID-19-associated disease” making people who fall into this category eligible for the vaccine. in the early stages. of inoculation. As a result, key workers, especially teachers, are frustrated.
According to a CNN report, teachers in New Jersey have expressed disappointment that smokers have been given priority over key workers like them.
“I said from the beginning that educators should get priority access to the vaccine. It is an important step towards a safer return to personal learning. I have been in constant communication with state officials about educators’ access to vaccination. reiterated the need to do everything necessary to speed up access even in light of the revised federal guidelines from the Trump administration and a slow federal launch of the vaccine itself, “said the Communications Association’s communications director. from New Jersey, Steve Baker, quoted by CNN.
New Jersey and Mississippi have launched vaccines for smokers under the age of 65. However, several other US states have listed smokers in the next phase, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday had treated 16-year-olds and the elderly with medical conditions. Murphy and New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the state’s immunization program aims to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible, starting with those most susceptible to severe viral illnesses.
“We cannot be overly bureaucratic in this regard … Do not divide people in Job A from Job B,” the governor said.
The CDC recommended that smokers be vaccinated in phase 1c of the unit. However, the decision to open eligibility for different constituents was left to the states.
New Jersey, like other states, uses the CDC guidelines to determine who is in which category. For example, the cohort of over 65s and those with medical conditions are grouped together. What varies by state is when each group receives the vaccine. New Jersey started with health care workers and nursing home staff and residents, then moved on to the first responders, such as police and firefighters.
Seniors and those with medical conditions followed, but other states went in different directions. For example, teachers are eligible in many states as part of what the CDC calls population 1b, including neighboring New York and Pennsylvania, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, but not yet in New Jersey.
State officials, however, claimed that the decision was made taking into account “medical fact and not political desire.” “We have to save lives. And we have to protect our hospitals, by the way, from patient growth,” Murphy said. Smoking is understood as a health risk, said a spokesman for the state health department, which was the subject of the governor’s thoughts.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves also announced that vaccines will now become available to both people with existing medical conditions and smokers. However, teachers, police officers and state firefighters were promised inoculation in the next round, he said.
New Jersey is home to about 2 million smokers who make up the largest population to qualify for the vaccine, State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli told a news conference. Whether smoking is a public health issue or a personal choice is a debate that has been sparked by the New Jersey movement. The state health department stressed that nicotine in tobacco products is addictive and that people who smoke should quit.
While the addition of smokers to the list of people eligible for vaccination has attracted attention, a bigger problem is at stake: the lack of vaccine supply.
For example, New Jersey currently receives approximately 100,000 doses per week. But it would need about 470,000 a week to meet forecast demand, Persichilli said.
This would be enough to vaccinate 70% of the adult population, or 4.7 million people, in about six months, which is the state’s goal.
Governor Phil Murphy said this: supply does not meet demand.
(With Reuters entries)