Page 7 - Healthcare News Nov_Dec, 2020

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VACCINES CONT’D
Vaccines
Continued from page 5
mask, wash your hands, and don’t be inside spaces with a mask off with people you don’t know. I do think the holidays have created
a tremendous sense of urgency to remind people again, especially with students leaving schools and coming back to their homes.”
Hopefully, health leaders say, vaccines will put a definitive end to the crisis. But that day is still far off, Collins added. “People need to wait it out.”
Making a List, Checking It Twice
In announcing the Common- wealth’s vaccine-distribution plans, Gov. Charlie Baker noted that Massachusetts goes further than na- tional recommendations by priori- tizing all workers in the healthcare environment, not only providers, but also food-service, maintenance, and other facility workers. Similar- ly, home health workers, including personal-care attendants, are priori- tized on the list, recognizing their important role providing services to vulnerable individuals and the fact that they often reside in communi- ties highly affected by COVID-19.
“It’s going to take a while — even
if all goes well — before we get enough immunity in the population to really put an end to this thing.”
Phase one of vaccine distribu- tion — which, as noted, includes healthcare-facility workers; po- lice, fire, and ambulance workers; congregate-care settings, including not only senior-living facilities, but shelters and jails; and home-based healthcare workers — is expected to last into February. Phase two, expected to run from February to April, will prioritize individuals
with co-morbidities that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 com- plications; all adults over age 65; as well as workers in the fields of early education, K-12 education, transit, grocery, utility, food and agricul- ture, sanitation, public works, and public health.
Phase three, expected to follow in April or May, will see the vac- cine more widely available to the general public.
Baker’s announcement noted that vaccines go through extensive testing, more than any pharmaceu- ticals, including extensive testing in clinical trials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which ap- proves the vaccine, and the Center for Disease Control and Preven- tion’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which will make its recommendation for use, must ensure any vaccine is both
safe and effective for the public before approval and distribution.
All this is necessary for emergen- cy-use authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Artenstein said, but the testing process is far from over, and long-term effects won’t be known until, well, the long term.
The emergency-use ruling “is not
Please see Vaccines, page 33