As of today the covid-19 vaccine is still in progress of being distributed in the U.S. The disease is everywhere, and the vaccine can be here very soon, but Americans are complicating the matter by not taking the precaution of going out and simply wearing a mask. Once the vaccine hits the OK in the U.S, the question is who will, and who should, be receiving the vaccine first?
For the vaccine to be given to people, the federal government must first distribute it. The vaccine supply will be divided depending on the state population size. All decisions of distribution are up to states. By the spring, there will be a possibility for about 50 million people to be vaccinated within the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s presidency.
One of the first groups of people to receive the vaccine should be the doctors who are being exposed to covid-19 every day of their lives. The vaccine should also go to elderly people who are at a higher risk to die from the coronavirus, because it is more common for them to have a pre-existing condition, such as diabetes, arthritis and renal insufficiency. The CDC’s advisory has recommended that the vaccine should go to part of the nation’s 20 million health care workers and the 3 million residents and long term care facilities by December.
Another group of people that should be receiving the first round of vaccines are essential workers. These workers continue to work through the pandemic, because they can’t go without a paycheck. Many essential workers have died because of covid-19. Reporters say this group will be receiving the vaccine by the month of January of 2021.
In this group, the 3.3 million teachers should be receiving the vaccine as well. Vaccinating teachers can give the possibility to permanently have schools reopen. A RAND survey was given to educators last spring on how teachers were going over with their class on old lessons rather than teaching something new, like they would have in regular class at school. The survey found that only 13% of teachers were covering the whole formal subject of distant learning. Besides lessons, schools provide social, emotional, and nutritional sustenance to the students that may not get at home.
The covid-19 vaccine seems to be ready for students before the new school year in August of 2021. Children tend to have a stronger immune system than adults. However, they also tend to have stronger temporary reactions to the vaccine, which means swelling, soreness and fever. But vaccinating just adults won’t stop the virus from being transmitted. If the vaccine is not available for children, then they will likely serve as carriers of the virus, which will make it harder to end the pandemic.
Many Americans have asked, “If you have received the vaccine, can we stop wearing masks?” and the answer to that is NO. It is important to continue social distancing, washing hands frequently, wearing a mask ALWAYS, and following any other guidelines that have been given throughout this pandemic. Until this vaccine allows people going back to living the “normal” life, every precaution must be taken until further notice.
