As large-scale COVID-19 vaccination will be an important undertaking, the European Commission published a Communication on preparedness for COVID-19 vaccination strategies and vaccine deployment on 15th October 2020.
Until 28th December 2020, many European countries are beginning to announce vaccine plans. As the availability of the vaccines improves, vaccines strategies and their objectives will need to be adjusted accordingly. According to European Commission, the priority of vaccination is considered to be given to the following groups:
- healthcare workers
- persons over 60 years of age
- persons whose state of health makes them particularly at risk
- essential workers outside the health sector
- workers who cannot socially distance
- vulnerable socioeconomic groups and other groups at higher risk
Additionally, the testing is still an important part of the process to control the epidemic. As a large number of testing requirements, antigen & antibody rapid tests have been left to the first choice. Antigen testing with 15 minutes of testing time makes the detection more efficient and it could be done with no need of specific instrument or laboratory devices. Furthermore, the function of antibody testing is to identify people who have been infected with the virus, which plays an important role in determining the priority groups of the vaccination.
References:
1. Coronavirus vaccines strategy. https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/public-health/coronavirus-vaccines-strategy_en.
2. COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION EU Strategy for COVID-19 vaccines. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1597339415327&uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0245
