Should Nursing Home Residents Be Prioritized For Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine?

Thomas Hansler, 54, receives a COVID-19 vaccination from Yaquelin De La Cruz at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida.

Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images

A federal advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is voting Tuesday to recommend guidelines on who should get COVID-19 vaccines first once one is authorized for use.

The 15 voting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, along with representatives from federal science agencies and the health care industry, are participating in an emergency meeting online to weigh a proposal that the first COVID-19 vaccines should go to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and assisted living.

The issue of which risk groups should be prioritized for a COVID-19 vaccine has been a key topic at the group’s regular public meetings over the past several months. The committee’s goal is to use a COVID-19 vaccine to reduce severe illness and death from the disease and to lessen disruptions to society and the economy from the pandemic.