OKEECHOBEE – Will a COVID-19 vaccine be ready before the end of the year?

“It hit the news today about the vaccine possibly coming out by Nov. 1,” Mitch Smeykal of the Okeechobee Emergency Operations Center told the Okeechobee County Commissioners at their Sept. 3 meeting.

He said when a vaccine is ready, distribution will start with the priority groups such as health care workers and first responders and then it will go to those in high risk groups.

As more vaccine becomes available, the county will receive an allocation based on population, he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked states to work on plans to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as soon as the end of October, according CDC planning documents sent to public health officials Aug. 27.

“The planning scenarios described below should be used by state and local jurisdictions to develop operation plans for early COVID -19 vaccination when vaccine supply may be constrained,” the CDC document states. “The scenarios describe potential COVID-19 vaccine requirements, early supply estimates after vaccine product approvals, and populations that may be recommended for vaccination during this early period. These scenarios are designed to support jurisdictional, federal, and partner planning, but they are still considered hypothetical. The COVID-19 vaccine landscape is evolving and uncertain, and these scenarios may evolve as more information is available.

“Planners should assume that by January 2021 significantly more COVID-19 vaccine will be available for distribution and plans will need to evolve to address additional vaccine availability,” the document states.

In other business, Commissioners approved an extension to the local state of emergency (LSE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.