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Coping with COVID: Possible distribution problems ahead for vaccine

With promises of a COVID-19 vaccine said to be soon on the way, those looking ahead to its release raise questions around its effectiveness and distribution, including which groups will be considered a priority to receive the vaccine.

A COVID-19 vaccine is said to be on the horizon, according to the Trump Administration, but before it is released, some are concerned about how productive distribution of the vaccine will be and how to determine which groups should have priority.

National Institutes of Health Director, Francis Collins, contacted the National Academy of Medicine in the hopes of developing guidelines for who should get the first doses of the vaccine, according to reporting by CNN.

“The American public will want to know how are you making that decision? Why am I not getting it first?” Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine, said.

Another issue to be faced are those who remain skeptical of vaccines. Others are wary of the safety of the vaccine in particular since it is being produced on an accelerated timeline, reports CNN.

When a vaccine has been approved to produce and distribute, every American won’t be able to get it at once, reports CNN. That leaves the task of deciding who is most vulnerable to the disease and who is most essential to inoculate quickly.

Even so, there are many anxiously awaiting a vaccine that when released, experts will have to consider vulnerable populations like those in assisted-living facilities, prisons, people working in close quarters and how to assess Americans with pre-existing conditions.

While no promises have been made as to when Americans will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine, the National Academy of Medicine hopes to have its priority recommendations publicly available in August or September.