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Dec 20, 2020 - Health

CDC panel says adults over 75, essential workers should be next in line for vaccine

Orion Rummler
A hand holds a vial of the COVID vaccine up to the camera
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Falmouth Health Centre on Dec. 20 in Falmouth, England. Photo: Hugh Hastings/Getty Images

Americans 75 and older along with roughly 30 million "frontline essential workers" should be next in line to get coronavirus vaccinations, a group of experts that make recommendations to the CDC voted on Sunday, per the New York Times.

Why it matters: Adults over 75 are eight times more likely to be hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus. Essential workers are at an elevated risk for COVID-19 infections and are disproportionately people of color, who face higher mortality rates from the coronavirus than white people.

Driving the news: Health care workers were the first to receive inoculations of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine last week.

By the numbers: Adults 75 years and older account for 25% of all U.S. hospitalizations associated with the coronavirus as of Dec. 5, per the CDC panel.

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