BioUtah wants life sciences workers included in first vaccine recipients

The Centers for Disease Control has made its recommendations, but the it’s up to individual states to make the final decisions about vaccine allocation. The Utah Department of Health and Department of Public Safety, along with Gov. Gary Herbert and Gov.-elect Spencer Cox are actively working to refine the state’s initial COVID-19 vaccination plan.

BioUtah has made its feeling known on vaccine priority. The organization, which represents the state’s life sciences industry, has sent a letter to the Department of Health and state leaders making the case to include employees of Utah’s life sciences companies among priority recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines as essential workers. The letter also urges that Health Care Industry Representatives (HCIRs) in the medical device sector, given their on-site work with clinical teams, be treated as healthcare workers in the earliest phases of state vaccinations.

The national Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a BioUtah partner, shared its views on vaccine allocation for the biopharmaceutical industry in a letter to the National Governor’s Association. AdvaMed, also a Bio-Utah partner, commented on COVID-19 vaccine allocation in a memo to state vaccine authorities. Both BIO and AdvaMed share the position of BioUtah that life sciences workers should be included in the earliest phase of vaccinations for essential workers with healthcare industry representatives (HCIRs) prioritized as healthcare workers.

“Our industry’s workers are recognized as essential in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s definition of critical infrastructure workers,” BioUtah’s letter said. “Some of Utah’s medical device companies’ employ HCIRs who perform critical functions alongside healthcare professionals on the front lines. They typically work in clinical settings in close proximity to physicians and healthcare professionals. As a result, their risk of COVID-19 exposure, like other healthcare workers, is high, and should be recognized as such in the state’s vaccination plan.”