Vaccines distribution begins this week in Massachusetts, with the limited-number of first doses going to the most vulnerable populations. The following timeline lays out who will receive vaccines during the state’s phased distribution plan, and the status of the leading vaccine candidates in the U.S.
Phase 1 (December to January):
- Front-line health care workers
- Long-term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities
- First responders
- Jails, prisons, homeless shelters
- Home-based health care workers
- Other health care workers
- Pfizer vaccine approval, distribution
- Moderna vaccine approval and distribution, anticipated
- AstraZeneca vaccine approval and distribution, possible
Phase 2 (February to March):
- People with one or more co-morbidities
- Teachers and school staffers
- Transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health workers
- Adults over 65
- People with one co-morbidity
- Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval and distribution, possible
Phase 3 (April and beyond):
Available to the general public.
