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U.S. panel says health workers, first responders should be first to get COVID-19 vaccines

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Vaccine COVID-19” sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Vaccine COVID-19” sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

BY MICHAEL ERMAN

A panel of experts set up to advise the United States on how best to allocate COVID-19 vaccines said on Tuesday that high risk workers in healthcare facilities and first responders should get them first as part of a recommended four-phase rollout plan.

The plan was suggested by a special committee of experts from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Academy of Medicine, an independent advisory body. The directors of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health charged the panel with devising the plan in late June.