Federal guidelines recommend that smokers under the age of 65, considered high-risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms, be eligible for the vaccine in early phases of distribution, frustrating essential workers lower in the priority line.
New Jersey and Mississippi are currently offering the vaccine to smokers under the age of 65, and several other states have included smokers among those next in line, but haven t opened the phase yet, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
The move to prioritize smokers over essential workers like teachers has received some criticism, though the phased rollout is in line with federal guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control that place smoking on a list of conditions that cause increased risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19.