Some people are balking at the idea of a new vaccine pushed by a government they don’t entirely trust, and that’s causing concern among health officials who say that the virus won’t be stopped until at least 70% and some say 80% of the population is immune. Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune
When Julieta Hernandez began hearing the first rumblings about a COVID-19 vaccine soon arriving in Texas, the Rockport writer and bartender had no doubts that she would get her shot when her time came.
And then she sat down to breakfast with her vegetarian parents, lifelong believers in homeopathic treatments with a deep skepticism for vaccines and mistrust in the government.
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With the national Covid death toll surpassing 300,000, the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine left a facility in Kalamazoo, Mich., on December 13, kicking off an extraordinary effort to inoculate nearly all Americans against the coronavirus. The vaccination campaign faces enormous challenges: the need to keep that vaccine at –94 degrees Fahrenheit, for one. But the challenges are not only logistical. Serious ethical questions remain about who will be at the front of the line.
By Maria Eloisa Capurro
Bloomberg News/TNS
As states get the first 2.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, some are turning to a planning tool used for natural disasters to make sure their most vulnerable residents aren’t overlooked.
Because of the limited supply of doses, at least 26 states and Washington, D.C., will rely on what’s known as the Social Vulnerability Index, or SVI, to determine who should be immunized. The SVI tries to account for social, economic, racial and ethnic factors, and it might help health-care officials figure out whom to prioritize for vaccination.An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that health-care workers and nursing-home residents get shots first, followed by those with pre-existing medical conditions.
States Count on an Index for Vaccinating Those Most in Need
Dec 14 2020, 10:22 PM
December 14 2020, 5:30 PM
December 14 2020, 10:22 PM
(Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg)
As states get the first 2.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, some are turning to a planning tool used for natural disasters to make sure their most vulnerable residents arenât overlooked.
Because of the limited supply of doses, at least 26 states and Washington, D.C., will rely on whatâs known as the Social Vulnerability Index, or SVI, to determine who should be immunized. The SVI tries to account for social, economic, racial and ethnic factors, and it might help health-care officials figure out whom to prioritize for vaccination.
Maria Eloisa Capurro, Bloomberg News An employee wearing a protective mask moves an ultra low temperature (ULT) freezer at the So-Low Environmental Equipment Co. manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. As U.S. health authorities near emergency approvals for the first Covid-19 vaccines, companies are taking some of the first concrete steps to prepare for the unprecedented and complex task of distributing hundreds of millions of doses to the American workforce. Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg)
As states get the first 2.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, some are turning to a planning tool used for natural disasters to make sure their most vulnerable residents arenât overlooked.