Oklahoma health officials reject CDC vaccine recommendation

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Oklahoma health officials reject CDC vaccine recommendation

By SEAN MURPHY
December 24, 2020

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma health officials say they don’t plan to follow all of the new federal guidelines for coronavirus vaccine distribution and will keep adults 65 and older in Phase Two of the state’s distribution protocol.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines over the weekend to prioritize people aged 75 and older and front-line essential workers in Phase Two of the vaccine rollout. But Oklahoma Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said in a statement late Wednesday that the state’s advisory committee decided it would be problematic to prioritize young and healthy workers over Oklahomans in the 65-74 age group.

“While we always take CDC recommendations into consideration, in this particular case, our advisory and planning committees do not feel comfortable implementing an automatic change at this time,” Frye said. “We believe the current priority groups as outlined by our state’s planning committee ensure that our most vulnerable populations are able to receive the vaccine first.”

Along with adults 65 and older, the state also plans to prioritize adults of any age with comorbidities, including hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers or chronic lung, liver or renal diseases. The state estimates there are about 635,000 Oklahomans in these two categories.

Frye says health officials plan to closely monitor the state’s vaccine supply and could consider prioritizing those age 75 and older if supplies and provider access remains limited.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-coronavirus-pandemic-8a8a19008d44440827afe677cba36025

[Runningdawg]

1. Okies understand priorities

Politicians first, followed closely by the 1% and then the athletes. That was the order in which the first tests were handed out. On the downlow you have your pastors sneaking in and then lying to their congregations telling them not to take the vaccine.
75% of my state (say they) will refuse the vaccine, but even at 61 and high risk, I doubt I will have the opportunity anytime soon.