State Largely Adopts the Recommendations

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met last week and recommended that the initial shipments of the vaccine be focused on vaccinating healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities. About 420,000 Arizonans work in the healthcare industry. An estimated 60,000 persons live in AZ long-term care facilities.

Slides from the meeting are available on this CDC website. The committee will meet again following FDA authorization to consider additional recommendations.

Prior to the ACIP meeting, the CDC published this Early Release MMWR describing the proceedings of the meeting and outlining the principles they used to make their decision. They considered data on safety and efficacy and employed the ethical principles of:

  • Maximizing benefits and minimizing harms.

  • Promoting justice.

  • Mitigating health inequities.

  • Promoting transparency in their recommendations.

The state outlined priority populations for Arizona last week. The following represent the priorities that came out of the task force that has been assembled. Keep in mind that the practical logistics of vaccinating large numbers of people will likely mean that there will be some overlap between these phase groups.

Phase 1A

    • Skilled nursing facility residents

    • Assisted living, independent living, HUD senior housing residents

    • DES group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and staff

    • Health care practitioners and technical occupations

    • Health care support occupations

Phase 1B

    • Adults with high-risk medical conditions living in shelters or other congregate living settings

    • Law enforcement, corrections, and other emergency response staff

    • Power and utility workers

    • Food and agriculture related occupations

    • Transportation and material moving occupations

    • State and local government workers who provide critical services for continuity of government

    • Education and childcare providers

    • Other essential workers

Phase 1C 

    • Adults with underlying medical conditions

    • Adults 65 years and older

    • Adults living in congregate settings

Last Friday was the deadline for the ADHS to turn in requests for the first shipment of Pfizer vaccine (including the destination for shipments). Arizona’s allotment for the remainder of 2020 is expected to be about 350,000 doses (it’s unclear whether it’s all Pfizer vaccine or a combo of Pfizer and Moderna).

The first doses of that vaccine could be shipped as early as Monday, December 14 assuming that the FDA Biological Products Advisory Committee and the FDA Commissioner authorize Emergency Use of the vaccine immediately following this Thursday’s VRBPAC meeting.

The FDA’s VRBPAC committee meeting regarding the Moderna vaccine is set for Thursday (December 17). This week Moderna, Inc. announced that their candidate vaccine is 94% effective at preventing COVID19 infections. Their Phase 3 study enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S.  The primary analysis was based on 196 COVID19 cases in the trial. 185 of the cases were observed in the placebo group versus 11 cases in the mRNA vaccine group.

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