Health workers, nursing home residents should get vaccines first: US panel

Agence France-Presse Posted at Dec 02 2020 08:59 AM WASHINGTON - Health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be prioritized in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, an advisory committee of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The panel voted overwhelmingly in favor of the non-binding recommendations for "Phase 1a" of distribution to states and other local jurisdictions if the Food and Drug Administration grants emergency approval to frontrunner vaccines. "I believe that my vote reflects maximum benefits, minimum harm, promoting justice and mitigating the health inequalities that exist, with regard to distribution of this vaccine," said Jose Romero, chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The two priority groups account for around 24 million people, which is the approximate number of people who can be immunized in December if vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna are approved and the companies deliver the 40 million doses they have promised. The CDC's Sara Oliver explained during the meeting that after December, authorities expect to receive between five and 10 million doses per week. Most states think they will be able to vaccinate all of their health professionals "within three weeks," said senior CDC scientist Nancy Messonnier. Long-term care facilities have accounted for about 40 percent of US deaths during the pandemic, or about 100,000 people. There are some three million people living in these facilities. For professionals in the health sector, the population is estimated at 21 million people, including workers in hospitals, outpatient clinics, home health care, pharmacies, emergency medical services and so on. The committee did not vote for what would happen after the initial phase, but experts have proposed to then give priority to essential workers in phase "1b," followed by adults with multiple risk factors and adults over 65 in phase "1c." ia/sst © Agence France-Presse

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more