Last week, we had another round of significant news on the vaccine front. Here we provide a roundup of news on vaccine availability and eligibility so cities can make up-to-date decisions on city employee vaccinations.

President Biden calls for all adults to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1

In his first national address on March 11, President Biden announced that he will direct states, tribes, and U.S. territories to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1. He also discussed the federal government’s efforts to ramp up vaccinations nationwide, including building a federal website for individuals to find vaccine appointments and increases in the number of federally sponsored vaccination sites. Currently, Alaska is the only state that has opened up vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16 and up.

The President announced the U.S. will purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine as production increases. Additionally, Moderna and Pfizer are on track to hit their initial production goals of 100 million doses each by the end of the first quarter 2021 (March 31). President Biden expressed his hope that vaccination numbers will have increased enough that restrictions on small group gatherings can be lifted by Independence Day. He also cautioned that while the vaccination news is promising, Americans still need to take other measures to reduce disease spread because of the new virus variants becoming more prevalent.

CDC issues new guidance for fully vaccinated people

In related news, the Centers for Disease Control released new guidance for fully vaccinated individuals. The CDC’s guidance is available here. The updated guidance says that fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people in private settings without face masks or social distancing. The guidance maintains that fully vaccinated people should still wear masks and social distance in public settings and observe the same precautions around high-risk unvaccinated people in private settings.

Governor Inslee moves vaccine eligibility to Phase 1B, Tier 2, which includes transit, police, and firefighters

Also on March 11, Governor Inslee announced he was moving the state vaccination eligibility protocol to Phase 1B, Tier 2 as of Wednesday, March 17. The change makes several categories of employees common to cities eligible for the vaccine. Those eligible for the vaccine are (Governor’s new additions in bold):

• Anyone 65 and older;
• Anyone 50 and older living in a multigenerational household;
• Health care workers at high risk of COVID infection;
• First responders;
• Educators and school staff for pre-K – 12;
• Child-care workers;
• People living or working in long term care facilities;
• All other health workers at risk of COVID-19 infection;
• Critical workers in congregate settings (including workers in agriculture, food processing, grocery stores & retail, public transit, firefighters and law enforcement, among others);
• People 16 and older that are pregnant; and
• People 16 and older who have a disability putting them at higher risk.

More details on vaccine eligibility phases is available here. As we’ve mentioned in previous articles, city employees can use the state’s Phase Finder tool to determine if they are currently eligible for a vaccine. AWC hopes the tool will be updated with the new phases shortly following the start of the next eligibility phase. As a reminder, employees will still have to schedule vaccine appointments on their own, as Phase Finder is only used to determine eligibility, not schedule actual vaccinations.

As we wrote in this week’s Bulletin, Governor Inlsee also announced last week that all counties will move to Phase 3 of the state reopening plan as of March 22. More information is available here.