Today, AOPA sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging them to include O&P providers among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, AOPA attended today’s meeting and submitted comments with the same request to the CDC’s Advisory Council on Immunization Practices, the group charged with making recommendations for the phased allocation for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Deemed essential healthcare workers at the onset of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, O&P providers are not only risking exposure to themselves by continuing to provide patient care, but the care they provide is to some of the most at-risk patients. AOPA argued, getting access to the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available would protect both O&P providers and their patients.