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Public health officials are opening up vaccine eligibility to a broad swath of society. This includes those 65 years of age and older and those under age 65 years with high-risk medical conditions.
Adults of any age with “certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19” and can be immunized with the approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine “provided they have not had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the vaccine,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
“In talking to infection preventionists around the country who are being vaccinated — it is like hope. It is a positive step forward. It is a step towards the solution," said Connie Steed, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
A highly transmissible variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus originally from the United Kingdom is emerging rapidly in the United States, with 76 cases detected in 12 states when this report was filed.
The United States has had about 23 million cases of COVID-19 as of Jan. 13, 2021. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 11.5 million of those cases were transmitted by someone without symptoms.
With millions more healthcare workers and the general public slated to be immunized for COVID-19, researchers report that the Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine is causing anaphylactic shock reactions at 10 times the rate of typical vaccines.
Infection preventionists are reporting increasing outbreaks of healthcare associated infections as the COVID-19 pandemic demands outsized efforts by overworked caregivers.
Financial Disclosure: Dr. Joseph, peer reviewer, reports that he is a consultant for Genomic Health, Siemens, and CareDx. All of the relevant financial relationships listed for this individual have been mitigated. None of the remaining planners or authors for this educational activity have relevant financial relationships to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
