Initial Vax Supply Likely To Fall Short For Most At Risk

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Initial supplies of any successful coronavirus vaccines are now expected to fall short of what is needed even for high-priority groups like health-care workers, forcing drugmakers and U.S. officials to grapple with the thorny question of who should be first in line.

Public-health officials estimate more than 100 million Americans, including doctors and nurses, other essential workers and nursing-home residents, should get vaccinated before the general public because they are at greater risk of exposure to the virus or of contracting more severe Covid-19 disease.

They were widely expected to get the first supplies after a vaccine is cleared. But there may be 10 million to 20 million doses available at first, according to a slide presentation prepared by the CDC last week.

Public-health officials estimate more than 100M Americans—including doctors & nurses—should get vaccinated before the general public because of their greater exposure risk. But the CDC estimates there will only be 10M to 20M doses available at first. https://t.co/C64YgrC0qW

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) August 6, 2020