As pharmaceutical companies churn out studies for candidate COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is laying out plans for who will get the vaccine first, once one is ready to go. Pregnant women are near the top of the list of first-receivers, the CDC said, because they have an increased risk of severe illness from the disease.
An interesting twist is that, although the elderly are also more at risk, they don’t have immune systems that respond well to vaccines. Where the elderly fit on the priority list is still yet to be decided, but one thing is certain: Health care workers and certain other medical staff, as well as national security workers are in the top tier.
SOURCE: Science June 29, 2020