Planning Ahead for Eventual Vaccination

Minnesotans has been living with COVID-19 since the state’s first reported case in March. As months roll by, it’s easy to feel like a vaccine remains a long way off.

Though no vaccine has yet been approved, five candidates have reached phase three of clinical trials. That’s the last stage of research, when the Food and Drug Administration must decide if a vaccine does what it promises to do and if it’s safe for most people to take.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is already figuring out how that vaccine will be distributed once it’s available. Minnesota is one of four states selected by the CDC to participate in the planning. In our state, the Minnesota Department of Health, public health officials and tribal health officials are among those providing input to the CDC.

Kris Ehresmann [pronounce AIRS-min], state infectious disease specialist, said one of the key questions they’re going to have to answer is who gets the vaccine first.

Kris Ehresmann: [18:14] We talked about the need of providing the vaccine to critical personnel as well as vulnerable populations. How would that be done? The practical side of literally identifying people who fall into certain categories.

MARIE: Critical personnel include health care workers. The elderly and those with underlying health conditions will be a priority, because of their vulnerability to the virus. But planners will also have to consider young adults, who are the most likely to spread the disease.

Eventually, it’s expected a number of vaccines, each working on COVID-19 in a slightly different way, will gain FDA approval. Which vaccine works best for you might depend on demographic or health factors. But they’ll be administered in a similar fashion. Here’s Kris Ehresmann [AIRS-min]:

Ehresmann: [18:42] The expectation is that this will be a two-dose vaccine. There likely will be several different formulations. So it will be important to track that a person gets the same vaccine for their first and second doses.