The question many healthy, non-essential working adults have is, when will they be able to get the Covid vaccine?
“There is a little bit of confusion” about the timeline, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor, during an interview with “Pod Save America” Thursday. But there are three different “goal posts” to consider, he said.
Here’s what you need to know about the current timeline, from eligibility to delivery to getting an appointment.
In May or June healthy youngsters are eligible for vaccination
Given the limited supply of Covid vaccines, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that the Centers for Disease Control prioritize vaccination of high-risk groups first. That includes: caregivers, nursing home residents, the elderly, essential workers, and those with underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk of serious illness from Covid. (To check your eligibility, you can use NBC News to schedule your vaccination tool.)
As vaccine offerings increase, the ACIP will expand its recommendations.
It will take until May or early June to get through the priority groups, Fauci told Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau.
Only when that’s complete can “anyone and everyone” get in line for a vaccine, Fauci said.
Fauci originally estimated that April would be an “open season” for vaccines, meaning healthy young people can walk into a pharmacy and get vaccinated. But that has since been pushed back because “we didn’t have as much vaccine as we would have liked,” he said.
There should be enough vaccine for all Americans by July
Eligibility is one thing, and having enough vaccine is another.
Production will “continue to increase as we go” thanks to the National Defense Production Act, which allows Pfizer and Moderna to ramp up production of vaccine raw materials, President Joe Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday.
By the end of May, the US is expected to have 400 million doses, Biden said. By July, the country “will likely have all of the 600 million doses we have contracted to vaccinate 300 million people,” Fauci said.
That means enough vaccine doses will be available to inoculate every American by the end of July, Biden said.