The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the United States earlier this month listed smoking as one of the conditions that place people at high risk of contracting “severe COVID-19-related illness”, putting those falling into this category in the early stages are eligible for vaccination. of vaccination. As a result, essential workers, especially teachers, become frustrated.
According to a report in CNN, teachers in the state of New Jersey have expressed disappointment that smokers have been given priority over essential workers like them.
“We have said from the outset that educators should be given priority access to the vaccine. It is an important step toward a safer return to personal learning. We have been in constant contact with government officials about educators’ access to vaccination.” reiterated the need to do whatever it takes to expedite that access, even in light of revised federal guidelines from the Trump administration and a slow federal rollout of the actual vaccine, “said Steve Baker, New Jersey communications director. Educators Association. .
New Jersey and Mississippi have rolled out vaccines for smokers under the age of 65. However, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, several other states in the US have included smokers in the next stage.
Democratic Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy had qualified 16-year-olds and elderly people with medical conditions for the vaccine on Thursday. Murphy and Judy Persichilli, New Jersey’s health commissioner, said the state’s vaccination schedule aims to get as many people as possible vaccinated as soon as possible, starting with those most susceptible to serious illness from the virus.
“We can’t be too bureaucratic about this … Don’t break people up in Job A versus Job B,” said the governor.
The CDC has recommended that smokers be vaccinated in phase 1c of the drive. However, the decision to qualify for the various voters is left to the states.
New Jersey, like other states, uses CDC guidelines to determine who falls into which category. For example, the cohort of 65+ and people with medical conditions are grouped. What varies by state is when each group gets the vaccine. New Jersey started out with health workers and nursing home workers and residents, then moved on to first responders such as police and firefighters.
Next came seniors and those with medical conditions, but other states have gone in different directions. For example, teachers qualify as part of what the CDC calls the 1b population in many states, including neighboring New York and Pennsylvania, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, but not yet in New Jersey.
However, government officials have maintained that the decision was made taking into account “medical facts and not political need”. “We have to save lives. And besides, we have to protect our hospitals from an increase in patients,” said Murphy. Smoking is seen as a health risk, a state health service spokesman quoted the governor’s thoughts.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves had also announced that vaccines would now be available for people with existing medical conditions and smokers. However, state teachers, police officers and firefighters were promised vaccination in the next round, he said.
New Jersey is home to about 2 million smokers making up the largest population eligible for the vaccine, health commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a news conference. Whether smoking is a public health issue or a personal choice is a debate sparked by the New Jersey move. The state health service has pointed out that nicotine in tobacco products is addictive and that people who smoke should quit.
While adding smokers to the list of people who are eligible to be vaccinated has drawn attention, there is a bigger problem: the lack of vaccine supply.
For example, New Jersey currently gets about 100,000 doses per week. But it would take about 470,000 a week to meet expected demand, Persichilli said.
That would be enough to vaccinate 70% of the adult population, or 4.7 million people, in about six months, which is the goal of the state.
Governor Phil Murphy put it this way: Supply does not meet demand.
(With Reuters entries)