CDC releases more guidelines on who is next for getting vaccine
CDC releases more guidelines on who is next for getting vaccine
With vaccine distribution now in full swing, the CDC has released more guidelines on who should receive it.
CHICAGO - With vaccine distribution now in full swing, the CDC has released more guidelines on who should receive it.
Frontline healthcare workers and people in long-term healthcare facilities are first in line and it will likely be months before it is available to the general public.
"Right now in Chicago, we remain very focused on our healthcare workers and our long-term care facility residents," said Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady. "We've got about 400,000 people just in this group."
She predicts that will remain the case for the next month. All 23,000 doses received by the city so far have gone straight to hospitals. Outside Chicago, 63,000 Illinoisans in that group have been vaccinated, with new shipments arriving by the thousands.
"As we're looking ahead -- not this week, not next week -- but more than a month from now, we will be expanding out to some of those older Chicagoans and people in some of those frontline workers. So that was good news for us," Arwady said.
That second group includes people over the age of 75 and "essential workers" -- like police, firefighters, teachers, grocery store workers, postal workers and public transit workers. After them, it will be people 65-74, those with underlying conditions and a second tier of essential workers.
"That's later in the spring and we'll probably be getting to the general population, I would think, more in the summer," Arwady said.
The vaccine delivery pace does appear to be picking up. Starting Tuesday, the state expects a shipment of 174,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and on Wednesday, another 60,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
"I have every confidence in the safety of this vaccine. I am excited to get it next week," Arwady said.