Who can get the vaccine? When can they get it?
Those are the questions that health officials in Cayuga County are trying to answer for the public, as misinformation circulates on social media about vaccine rollout.
Auburn Community Hospital and Cayuga County Public Health released a joint statement on New Years Eve, addressing those questions and misinformation.
“There may be some confusion in terms of how the vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed,” the statement began. “There has been a significant amount of misinformation circulating on social media and other places in Cayuga County on who is eligible, and when they can receive the vaccination.”
The state Department of Health is leading the effort, providing guidance to counties on how rollout will occur.
– The first group to be vaccinated at any facility or vaccination site will be health care personnel within the facility at high risk for transmitting or becoming infected with COVID-19. This includes direct care, administrative staff, and food and housekeeping services staff who have contact with patients or infectious materials.
After frontline, high risk staffs are vaccinated, facilities must vaccinate the next priority groups as follows.
First up:
– Hospital workers;
– Emergency Medical Services personnel;
– Medical Examiners and Coroners;
– Funeral workers who have direct contact with infectious material and bodily fluids;
– Agency staff and residents in congregate living situations; and
– Urgent care center workers.
Next up:
– Outpatient ambulatory frontline, high risk healthcare providers. Includes ambulatory care, primary care, outpatient behavioral care, phlebotomists, physical and occupational therapists, and specialty clinics;
– Public health workers with direct contact to patients; and
– Healthcare workers at testing sites.
Officials say those vaccinations have either already begun, or will start in the next several days. More criteria will be released as it becomes available.
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