Health experts discuss possible schedule for COVID-19 vaccine distribution
WASHINGTON (WTVD) -- When a vaccine for COVID-19 gets approval in the United States, it will still take time to inoculate everybody in America.
According to ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jen Ashton, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will likely release guidelines and details about the vaccine rollout across the country in the coming weeks.
Ashton expects CDC to give a final recommendation sometime in October.
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But the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has recently released a draft of its proposed guidelines which divide the rollout into five stages:
Stage 1 - Health care workers & first responders (5% of the population)
Stage 2 - People with medical conditions & older adults in dense settings (10% of the population)
Stage 3 - Essential workers, teachers, people in prisons, shelters (30-35% of the population)
Stage 4 - Young adults and children (40-45% of the population)
Stage 5 - All remaining residents (5-15% of the population)
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Though not a final recomendation, the drafted guidelines, released earlier this month, provide intial clues as to how groups will be divided for equitable vaccine allocation. The public was able to submit comments on the proposal earlier this month, which the National Academies will take into account before releasing their final report.
