ASCP Praises CDC Recommendation to Prioritize Vaccination for Healthcare Workers

ASCP applauds a recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure healthcare workers are among the first individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine after it is approved. The CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices made the recommendation on December 1. The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing emergency use authorization requests for several COVID-19 vaccines. 

“Ensuring that America’s healthcare workers are among the first to receive the new COVID-19 vaccines rightly recognizes the vital importance of America’s healthcare workforce,” ASCP President Kimberly Sanford, MD, MASCP, MT(ASCP), said.

The pandemic has exacerbated the existing workforce shortage of healthcare professionals and put enormous pressure on medical laboratory professionals who are at high risk of infection due to their proximity to COVID-19 patients.

“Prioritizing the vaccination of healthcare professionals is essential to ensuring that the healthcare system can effectively diagnose and treat those suffering from a COVID-19 infection and to helping to contain the spread of the virus,” Dr. Sanford said.

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