COVID vaccine could be available this month, but who gets the first dose?

The FDA will be deciding Thursday whether to grant an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine, and Moderna is up next week.

If those authorizations are granted, the first doses of the Covid vaccine could roll out this month.

But who gets them?

“Right now, the plan is that the top priority is to immunize healthcare providers,” says University of Oregon biology professor Janis Weeks.

Public Health will help get those first vaccines to hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Next up? Essential workers, people over 65 and those with underlying conditions.

How long until the rest of us can get vaccinated depends on which vaccines get approved and how quickly they’re distributed.

“Looking forward to February, March, April, potentially, before it starts to become available to the general population,” says Jason Davis with Lane County Public Health.

Once it’s your turn, getting vaccinated could look a lot like getting a flu shot, and should be free.

“Immunizations will start happening through pharmacies – you know, chain pharmacies,” says Weeks.

But Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses, and it’s not clear yet whether you’ll need to get one every year.

The vaccine will not be mandatory, but about 90% of the population needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity.

“Lots of variables at play here and a lot of this does depend on our public’s participation in the vaccine process,” says Davis.

Even though the vaccine was developed quickly, it still went through all the clinical trials and Weeks says it’s safe.

Adds LCPH’s Davis: “In order to compensate for the small amount of time, they’ve really increased their sample sizes in testing for safety.”

Even the experts can’t tell us exactly when life will return to normal.

“It all depends on the markers, the case rates and transmission rates,” Weeks says, “and it’s just going to be a rolling decision.”

Dr. Weeks says optimistic predictions say the pandemic could be over by summer 2021, but that depends on enough people getting vaccinated and the public social distancing in the meantime.