ACIP votes on interim recommendation on who should get COVID-19 immunization first

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 13-1 on an interim recommendation on who should get the COVID-19 vaccine first once the CDC officially gives it emergency authorization. 

The ACIP decided it should first be offered to healthcare personnel and residents of long-term healthcare facilities.

The ACIP deems both groups at high risk for contracting COVID-19.  This recommendation on who to immunize first goes to the Center for Disease Control. 

“We need to protect the folks working in hospitals. As we’ve seen in other states, hospitals just get disseminated when it spikes. The folks taking the patients in, the EMS workers need to be protected,” Seminole County Health Director Todd Husty said.  

He says states then have the final say on how to administer the first round of vaccines.

“It’s not set in stone. From what I understand, states can choose their own. But, they’re probably going to follow pretty closely the recommendations from the feds and this group,” Dr. Husty said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tweeted earlier Tuesday afternoon that he believes residents of long-term care facilities at the top of the list because "residents of LTCs are by far the most likely demographic to die with COVID.”

Stay tuned to FOX 35 News to learn the latest on how Florida leaders ultimately decide who will be at the front of the line for COVID-19 vaccines.