Alaska will prioritize people 65 and up for next round of COVID-19 vaccine, breaking from federal

Alaska will prioritize people 65 and up for next round of COVID-19 vaccine, breaking from federal guidance


The state of Alaska is breaking from federal guidance by focusing its next round of COVID-19 vaccine on elders age 65 and over. And it’s asking frontline essential workers, teachers, prisoners and others in high-risk settings to wait until those elderly Alaskans can be vaccinated first.

The Department of Health and Social Services released the new guidelines Thursday afternoon. They outline which groups will receive the vaccine in what’s known as Phase 1b — after the frontline health-care workers, nursing home residents and staff emergency responders in Phase 1a.

A federal vaccine committee recommended earlier this month that Phase 1b be designated for elders 75 and over, plus frontline essential workers like teachers, postal service and grocery store workers and bus drivers.

The state is including all those groups in Phase 1b. But within Phase 1b, it’s prioritizing a larger group of elders by allowing those 65 and older to be vaccinated first, instead of 75 and older.

Read more: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2021/01/03/alaska-will-prioritize-people-65-and-up-for-next-round-of-covid-19-vaccine-breaking-from-federal-guidance/