The appearance of the coronavirus vaccine in the USA, where the number of lethal outcomes reached 286 thousand, provoked the activation of lobbyists of large American companies
The interest of business elites is obvious. A company that will vaccinate its employees before competitors do, will get rid of restrictions and will be able to get ahead in the recovery of the collapsed American economy. According to Reuters, such ambitions have already forced large business lobbyists to work actively to get the vaccine for their clients, thus creating confusion in the prioritization.
At a time when the number of vaccine doses is now severely limited and the federal authorities have not taken responsibility for the distribution of the drug, it is up to the states to decide. Regional vaccine distribution plans available to Reuters vary from one state to another. While some of them clearly state specific priority groups, others are not clear at all.
There is confusion among large businesses. More than 20 companies have asked officials to give them the vaccine in the first place. These include Uber Technologies, DoorDash, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola.
It is worth noting that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in the USA previously recommended that medical personnel be given priority. Although no one is willing to challenge this openly, only 3.2 million doses of vaccine will be distributed across the country by mid-December. The total number of health care workers in the United States is as high as 21 million. Moreover, Washington, though it abstained from distributing the vaccine, reserved the vaccine for officials of several federal agencies.
Thus, U.S. health care workers may simply not get the vaccine, even though they are on the frontline fighting the spread of coronavirus. For example, in New York City, advanced physicians, including pharmacists, grocery store and public transportation workers, will only get the vaccine in the second stage of distribution.