Carnegie Mellon University
October 08, 2020

The National Academies COVID-19 Committee releases vaccine report

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the final report of a consensus study recommending a four-phased equitable allocation framework that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) authorities should adopt in the development of national and local guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine allocation. This report recommends using existing systems across all levels of government to provide necessary resources to ensure equitable allocation, distribution, and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine; launching a COVID-19 vaccine promotion campaign and risk communication and engagement program; and supporting equitable allocation globally.

The Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus, which includes Engineering and Public Policy Professor Baruch Fischhoff — an expert in science communication and risk-analysis, was formed in July in response to a request to the National Academy of Medicine from the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes after it has become evident that there is a need for an outline on how to distribute the vaccine effectively and equitably. Although there are nearly 190 COVID-19 vaccines in preclinical development or undergoing clinical trials across the world, even if one or more safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for use, it is very unlikely that sufficient quantities will be immediately available to vaccinate large portions of the U.S. population.

The report recommends a four-phased equitable allocation of the vaccine: Phase 1a, 1b, 2, 3, and 4. 

In addition, the report includes recommendations that HHS should:

  • Leverage and expand the use of existing systems, structures, and partnerships across all levels of government and provide the necessary resources to ensure equitable allocation, distribution, and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. 
  • Coordinate across agencies to provide and administer the COVID-19 vaccine with no out-of-pocket costs for those being vaccinated, regardless of their social and economic resources or their employment, immigration, or insurance status. 
  • Create and appropriately fund a COVID-19 vaccination risk communication and community engagement program to support STLT authorities.  Community-based organizations and other partner organizations — including hospitals, pharmacies, faith-based organizations, community centers, and schools and universities — can support community outreach and foster accountability. The communication workforce must reflect the diversity of the communities being vaccinated and should sustain proactive two-way communication, the report says.

In addition to these recommendations, the committee strongly encouraged that the CDC should rapidly develop and launch a national, branded, multidimensional COVID-19 vaccine promotion campaign, using rigorous, evidence-informed techniques from risk and health communication, social marketing, and behavioral science. The CDC should partner with diverse stakeholders and prioritize promoting the vaccine to people of color and other communities in which vaccine hesitancy and skepticism have been documented.

Committee co-chair and former CDC director, William H. Foege, said that, “despite the committee’s intense effort, this framework should still be regarded as an evolving document — meant to be adapted and refined in the face of continuing improvement in our understanding of the dynamics of the pandemic. We hope these guidelines serve as the impetus for one of the most consequential peacetime efforts this country has ever seen, as well as a springboard to resuming our place as a leader in global health.” 

To read the full report, go here.