Essential workers in NC will get COVID vaccine priority. What does that mean?
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper outlined an updated plan Wednesday for who gets the COVID-19 vaccine and when, prioritizing older adults and frontline essential workers.
Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, told reporters that the new plan prioritizes the order of vaccinations to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
The state’s current vaccination rollout is in the first phase, Phase 1a. Those being vaccinated now are health care workers in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, and also long-term care residents and staff.
Phase 1b will follow, with three groups of people to vaccinated one by one. Cohen said Wednesday there are about 2 million North Carolinians in Phase 1b.
The three groups to be vaccinated, in order, are:
▪ Group 1: People 75 years and older, no matter what underlying conditions they have or don’t have
▪ Group 2: Health care workers who work with patients and frontline essential workers who are 50 or older.
▪ Group 3: Health care workers who work with patients and frontline essential workers of any age who have not been vaccinated yet.
So what’s a “frontline essential worker”?
North Carolina is following the CDC definition of a frontline essential worker, those employees who are at the highest risk for being exposed to the coronavirus. Cohen said the state expects to be in Phase 1b in early January.
Who are ‘frontline essential workers’ in NC?
▪ First responders like firefighters and police officers
▪ Grocery store workers
▪ Childcare workers
▪ Teachers and education support staff
▪ Corrections officers
▪ Food and agricultural workers
▪ U.S. Postal Service workers
▪ Manufacturing workers
▪ Public transit workers
What are North Carolina's other phases?
In Phase 2, other categories of essential workers will be eligible for vaccinations. North Carolina follows CDC guidance as well.
There are four groups vaccinated in Phase 2. After people ages 65-74; people ages 16-64 with high risk conditions; then people incarcerated and living in other group settings; the fourth and final group are “essential workers.”
Essential workers are defined by N.C. DHHS and the CDC as:
▪ Transportation and logistics workers
▪ Water and wastewater workers
▪ Food service workers
▪ Shelter and housing workers, including construction
▪ Finance workers, like bank tellers
▪ Information technology workers
▪ Media workers
▪ Public safety workers like engineers
▪ Public health workers
▪ Communications workers
▪ Energy workers
▪ Workers in the legal field
The next phases are Phase 3, which includes students, and Phase 4, which is anyone who wants the vaccine. The vaccine is not yet available to children younger than age 16.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Essential workers in NC will get COVID vaccine priority. What does that mean?."
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