Covid vaccination priority to smokers frustrate essential workers in US: Report

The CDC guidelines say that adults of any age with smoking habit are at increased risk for severe Covid–associated illness.

As federal and state agencies of the United States are scrambling to increase the pace of vaccine rollout, immunisation eligibility for smokers under the age of 65 is reportedly frustrating essential workers placed lower in the priority line. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, New Jersey and Mississippi are offering the vaccine to smokers under the age of 65 to provide immunity against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), which has claimed more than 392,000 lives in the United States.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, New Jersey and Mississippi are offering the vaccine to smokers under the age of 65. (AP)

Earlier this week, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves announced an expansion of the vaccine rollout for people under 65 years of age with high-risk medical conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines say that adults of any age with smoking habit are at increased risk for severe Covid-19 associated illness and are placed in Phase 1c population groups, ahead of those essential workers not included in Phase 1b. Tate told a news conference that essential workers like teachers are next in line for the vaccination.

"And just be very clear to our emergency first responders, to our police officers, to our firefighters, and to our teachers, you're on deck. The next time we have an update, I expect it will be to announce that the vaccine will become available to you," the Mississippi governor said.

"From what I am hearing, it's just another round of frustration and another round of difficulty, you know, our educators and our education support professionals have working contact with the students and with their colleagues in their school buildings," McBride was quoted as saying by the US media outlet.