"Hi everyone! This is Dr. Stephanie Camaglia Reznick. I'm a board certified internist and one of the medical directors for Virtual Primary Care here at Oscar.
In today's video, I'd like to talk a bit about the COVID vaccine and how it's being distributed. As you may have heard on the news, we don't currently have enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated, so we have to come up with a way to distribute the vaccines in a fair and ethical way.
A few different organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (opens in new tab) have put together suggestions on how this can be done but ultimately each state is coming up with its own way. This may be why you see it being done one way in your home state but a friend who lives across the country might be seeing it done another way.
I’d like to go over the phases in general as the majority of states are following either this exact pattern or something very much like it.
Phase 1a includes healthcare workers directly caring for patients with COVID-19. This makes sense because we need to protect them or else there'll be no one to take care of those who are sick.
Phase 1b includes other people who are considered frontline workers in other industries. This is defined differently in different states but it often includes teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade. Phase 1b also includes those who may be at higher risk for getting complications of COVID-19. One main criteria considered is age and those 75 years old or older are typically considered in 1b but the exact cutoff for age depends on the state.
Some states are also including other high-risk individuals such as in Ohio if you have severe asthma and were hospitalized in the past year, you're considered high risk and therefore can be vaccinated during phase 1b.
Phase 1c includes other high risk patients and other frontline workers who were not previously included in phase 1a or 1b.
Finally, there's Phase 2 which is basically everyone else. Some ways of distributing the vaccine consider phase 2 to be those who are at mild to moderate risk of complications if they were to get COVID-19 and then include a Phase 3 vaccination pattern for those who are at no elevated risk for COVID complications.
Getting the vaccine
How do you get the vaccine? I recommend you pay very close attention to local resources be it your county board of health local hospital system or state board of health this is because everything is determined on a very state or local level and can change quickly.
If you meet the criteria for one of the phases, make sure to pre-register. Also, you'll need an appointment to get the vaccine when it is your turn.
Soon, if not already, your local pharmacy might also be offering the vaccine. An appointment is recommended.
One tip I recommend is because the current vaccines available have to be stored in a very particular way and ones opened up have to be used in a very specific time frame, sometimes they have leftover vaccines at the end of a vaccination shift. If you call one of your local pharmacies, they might put you on a waiting list so that these vaccines don't go unused.”
Updated February 3, 2021
*Virtual providers like Dr. Reznick are employed by Oscar Medical Group and are not employed by Oscar Health, Inc.
This content does not constitute medical advice and is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice, including diagnosis or treatment. Contact your physician with any questions you may have regarding COVID-19 or your personal health. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911 for immediate assistance.
![COVID-19 Vaccines: Phases of Eligibility [Video]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fjnbz686p%2Fhioscar_production%2Ff947e2d48a62b443f7ea761a38bc5126a6d34d17-3840x2160.png%3Fw%3D3840%26fit%3Dmax%26fm%3Dwebp&w=3840&q=75)