Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer
search play2 play3 facebook twitter linkedin2 cross
ASCP
  • DASHBOARD
  • STORE
  • LOGOUT
  • STORE
  • LOGIN
Menu
  • My Role
  • Membership
  • Learning
  • Get Involved
  • Careers
  • About ASCP
  • Board of Certification
  • News
  • News
  • News Archive
  • Groups
  • Jobs
  • ASCP
  • News Archive
  • News Detail

Are Laboratory Professionals Prioritized for the COVID-19 Vaccine? 25 Organizations Say ‘Yes!’

Publication Date: Dec 17, 2020
ASCP is urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to clarify that laboratory personnel are included in the COVID-19 vaccine tier 1a prioritization group (healthcare personnel). Recently, several questions have arisen as to whether pathologists and laboratory professionals are included in the tier 1a rollout group. While physicians and phlebotomists are specifically mentioned in CDC guidelines as tier 1a personnel, the rest of the laboratory team is not. That is, in part, because the guidance document CDC referenced to define healthcare personnel exempts three categories of healthcare professionals: autopsy, laboratory and dental personnel. This exemption stems from the fact that CDC has created separate infection control guidelines for each of these groups.  
 
“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 CDC intends the definition of healthcare personnel to be broad. However, ASCP is concerned that as the states adopt their vaccine rollout plans they may exclude laboratory and autopsy personnel. A shortage of the vaccine makes this concern more likely. As a result, ASCP has partnered with the American Dental Association on a December 16 letter to CDC to ensure of these critical members of the healthcare team are included in the tier 1a vaccine rollout. ASCP has also reached out to other organizations concerned about laboratory, pathology and autopsy personnel to ensure broad support.

“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. The final letter, which can be obtained here, was signed by 25 organizations.  
  
ASCP has heard, and investigated, a few concerns that in some local areas pathologists and laboratory personnel have been assigned a lower priority ranking in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. So far, these reports appear limited. It also appears that these instances are not attributed to federal or state government policy decisions. Instead, they appear to be decisions made by individual healthcare systems, hospitals and other healthcare employers that are prioritizing the vaccines they have received for their personnel.    
  
ASCP will continue to monitor this situation and hopes to report on the CDC’s response to our letter soon.  
 
To learn more about ePolicy News and access past newsletters and articles, click here.  

For more information regarding ASCP's advocacy initiatives and policy positions, please contact ASCP's Center for Public Policy at (202) 408-1110.

sponsors_hologic

ASCP ePolicy News is supported by an unrestricted grant from Hologic.

  • My Role
    • Pathologist
    • Resident
    • Lab Professional
    • Program Directors
    • Student
  • Membership
    • Renew Membership
    • Become a Member
    • Get Involved
    • Rewards
    • Member Center
  • Learning
    • Certificate Programs
    • Attend Live Events
    • Explore Books and Journals
    • Quality Improvement Education
    • Access My Education
    • ACCME
    • CC Resources
    • CMP Resources
    • ASCPedia
    • Featured Education
    • Immuno-Oncology
    • ASCP Annual Meeting
    • ASCP Virtual Town Hall Series
    • Inside the Lab
  • Get Involved
    • Get Recognized
    • Receive Awards
    • Serve Your Community
    • Center for Global Health
    • Serve Your Profession
    • Partners in Cancer Diagnosis
    • Institute for Science Technology & Public Policy
    • Choosing Wisely
    • Patient Champions
    • Discover Opportunities
    • Apply to Volunteer
    • Ambassadors
    • ASCP Mentorship Program
  • Careers
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Learn About Careers
    • Discover Fellowships
    • Work at ASCP
  • About ASCP
    • Our Mission
    • Supporting Our Members
    • Our Community Efforts
    • ASCP Foundation
    • Contact ASCP
    • Media Relations
  • Board of Certification
    • Get Credentialed
    • Stay Credentialed
    • Verify Credentials
    • Program Directors
    • About BOC
    • Apply Now/Check Status/Update Info
    • Manage Your BOC Account
    • Declaration & Complete CMP
  • News
    • ePolicy News
Chicago (Headquarters)
33 West Monroe Street, Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60603

Privacy Policy 

Terms of Use

Follow Us

Copyright ©2021 by American Society for Clinical Pathology. All Rights Reserved.