Christmas travel begins, Whites sent to back of vaccine bus, allergic reactions, Moderna, grifting

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Every US state has been advised to consider ethnic minorities as a critical and vulnerable group in their vaccine distribution plans, according to Centers for Disease Control guidance.

As a result, half of the nation's states have outlined plans that now prioritize black, Hispanic and indigenous residents over white people in some way, as the vaccine rollout begins.

According to our analysis, 25 states have committed to a focus on racial and ethnic communities as they decided which groups should be prioritized in receiving a coronavirus vaccine dose.

These include New Mexico, where collaboration with Native Americans is being prioritized; California, which has committed to ensuring black and Hispanic people have greater access to the vaccine; and Oregon, where health officials have said that ethnic minorities with have 'equitable access' to the shot.

Some states have made even more specific plans to prioritize communities of color, with 12 states specifically mentioning efforts to partner with healthcare providers in areas with a large minority population to reach 'diverse populations', according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

The CDC has also issued guidance on its Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) that uses 15 U.S. census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support.

It is being used in states such as Michigan where minority status and language spoken could be taken into consideration when deciding how high a priority you are for receiving a vaccine.

Maine, in particular, has developed a 'Racial/Ethnic Minority COVID-19 Vaccination Plan' in an attempt to give a preference to groups that 'have experienced rates of disease that far exceed their representation in the population as a whole'.

In the US, black and Hispanic people are almost three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than whites.

It comes as the US added a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal Friday, boosting efforts to beat back an outbreak so dire that the nation is regularly recording more than 3,000 deaths a day.

Much-needed doses are set to arrive Monday after the Food and Drug Administration authorized an emergency rollout of the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health.

In the first stage of the vaccine rollout, most states followed the Centers for Disease Controls recommendation that health care workers and nursing home residents get the very first doses.

However, state-to-state variations are likely to increase in the next-priority groups, said the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jennifer Kates, who has been analyzing state vaccination plans.

'I think we're going to see states falling out in different ways,' with some putting older people ahead of essential workers, Kates said.

These differences could also be seen in the ways that states decide to prioritize sections of the population depending on race.

While the Kaiser report said that many state plans reported more 'general or indirect methods' of focusing on minority groups, several states have already lined them up as the next vaccine target groups.

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US health officials closely tracking possible side effects of the first authorized COVID-19 vaccine said on Saturday they have seen at least six cases of severe allergic reactions out of more than a quarter million shots given - prompting one Illinois hospital to pause vaccinations.

Medical experts said that a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG), a compound most commonly used in laxatives, 'could be the culprit' causing the reactions.

PEG is an ingredient in the Pfizer vaccine as well as the Moderna Inc vaccine authorized on Friday.

But the Food and Drug Administration has said that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the vaccine. It said only people who have previously had severe allergic reactions to vaccines or ingredients in this particular vaccine should avoid getting the shot.