October 20, 2020 It’s time for a vaccine progress update. There is definitely a global push from many countries to produce a vaccine that works and is distributed in the hundreds of millions. Leading the way could be the United States. With the US federal government already putting up $9.35 billion to four separate drug companies in contracts to purchase doses of a vaccine. Other notable countries searching for a vaccine are India, China, Russia and the United Kingdom. There is definitely a global push to find a vaccine as quickly as possible. If we do find a vaccine that works beautifully. Who will be administered the vaccine first? We find a parallel with the WHO and the White House task force allocating first doses to frontline health care workers and older people.
For a global outlook on how a vaccine will be administered globally take a look at the World Health Organization SAGE prioritization roadmap. A link has been provided below. It outlines which groups should be administered the vaccine Covid-19 first and second and so on as the vaccine availability comes to market. There are 20 groups altogether I will outline the first six at this time. The First and second groups are Frontline healthcare workers and older adults. As availability comes online, people with comorbidities should be next. For example, people living with HIV. The fourth group, Sociodemographic groups at significantly higher risk of severe disease or death. Fifth, Health workers engaged in immunization delivery. And Sixth high priority teachers and staff.
With the virus raging on it has hit nursing homes the hardest. Namely a Kansas nursing home where all 62 residents tested positive and 10 have died. It begs the question of when are we going to get a vaccine or a cure of some kind? The answer is we don’t know for sure, but there are numerous tests going on with positive results. If we do get a vaccine before 2021 it will likely be in limited supply. However, supply could be ramped up within a few months according to Health and Human Services.
Nursing homes have a vaccination plan under Operation Warp Speed a White House backed initiative. In fact, they are planning to produce hundreds of millions of doses of approved vaccines enough for every American. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommended vaccines go to first responders and high-risk healthcare workers. Next in line would be Nursing homes. Seems like as soon as we have a vaccine it would be a good time to start searching for nursing jobs through a recruitment agency.
More good news is that the Nursing Homes that sign up for the program will not be charged. Medicare will reimburse drug stores at standard rates. Also, of importance to note is that nursing homes who use specialized pharmacy’s will also be covered under the plan. At this point we all have to be patient and hope for the best.