COVID Vaccine Update: Distribution Begins, States Receive Vaccines to Determine Priority Distribution, Communication Toolkit for Agencies

​Last Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older. This EUA represents the first vaccine authorized for the prevention of COVID-19. 

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The FDA determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has met the statutory criteria for issuance of an EUA and that the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks. The FDA developed a fact sheet about the vaccine. 

HCAOA has been advocating with both federal and state agencies to include home care workers as a priority group in states’ COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans. Click here to send a letter to your governor to reinforce the message and emphasize the important role home care workers play in protecting those most at risk of the virus and preventing the spread of the disease. CDC guidelines are important, however the ultimate decision on how the vaccine will be distributed lies with each state.

“While each state continues to update its distribution, it is important that officials are reminded that home care workers should be included in the first phase of the distribution,” said Vicki Hoak, HCAOA Executive Director.  “Many of our state chapters are doing great advocacy work by continuing to communicate the importance of home care.” 

Resources:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed a COVID-19 Vaccination Communication Toolkit that can be used to build confidence about COVID-19 vaccination among your caregivers and clients.  
• HCAOA and other national partners have compiled a tracking grid outlining each state’s vaccination allocations. 
• Kaiser Family Foundation has put together a resource to track how states are prioritizing who will get the COVID vaccine first.