COVID-19 Vaccines Are there guidelines to prioritize who gets vaccinated first? Yes. The CDC has created guidelines for prioritizing vaccines, and each state has submitted a vaccination plan for how they will administer vaccines. Click here to reference your state guidelines: Delaware Florida Georgia Maryland New Jersey North Carolina Pennsylvania South Carolina Virginia The CDC makes COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for the U.S. based on input from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). ACIP is a federal advisory committee made up of medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines for the U.S. public. Through workgroups, ACIP evaluates a range of clinical, epidemiological, and economic evidence as well as implementation issues (e.g., provider and patient acceptability), to develop vaccine recommendations that are approved by a full committee. ACIP formed a 41-member COVID-19 workgroup in April 2020 to consider how to prioritize populations for vaccination, emphasizing healthcare workers, essential workers, long-term care residents and staff, adults age 65 years and older, and high-risk adults with comorbidities. Use of COVID-19 vaccines in the civilian population under an EUA will be unprecedented in that all vaccines currently recommended by ACIP have FDA-licensure. Vaccines will be supplied to all individuals in society while mitigating inequities and disparities based on different population effectiveness and supply availability. As phase III clinical data becomes available, there will be a better understanding of which vaccine works best for certain populations, with the end goal of allocating and prioritizing to effectively create herd immunity and protect those at greatest risk. Resources: Ensuring Equitable Access To COVID-19 Vaccines In The U.S.: Current System Challenges And Opportunities How to Enroll as a Healthcare Provider News & Knowledge All Curi recommendations are based on current CDC criteria at the time of publication. CDC guidance for SARS-CoV-2 infection may, or may not, be adopted by state and local health departments to respond to rapidly changing local circumstances. Providers should always check with their local health department to see if the CDC’s guidance on any given topic has been modified (particularly if more restrictive) from the CDC’s recommended guidelines. Follow this link https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/index.html for contact information to your state/local health department. If local recommendations vary from those of the CDC, and you are unsure what recommendations to follow, then it is safer to follow the more restrictive guidelines/recommendations.