ATLANTA — With multiple COVID-19 vaccines said to be on the horizon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends health care workers, adults with high-risk medical conditions and the elderly be prioritized for initial vaccinations.

As the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, federal and state officials are up against the challenge of distributing a vaccine once approved in a strategic way to target at-risk groups and mitigate further spread.

Health officials are optimistic a limited supply of vaccine may be available as soon as the end of the year but everyday Georgians will likely wait months for a vaccination.

The Atlanta-based CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released its recommendations on Monday.

“For the period when the supply of COVID-19 vaccine will be limited,” the committee wrote, “ACIP has considered four groups for initial vaccine allocation. These include health care personnel, other essential workers, adults with high-risk medical conditions, and adults aged ≥65 years (including residents of long-term care facilities).”

To preserve the health care system that is buckling under the weight of coronavirus cases, health care workers will be first in line for a vaccination, as recommended by the CDC. Georgia’s first draft of its vaccination plan submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also noted health care workers are the most likely to be exposed directly or indirectly to individuals with COVID-19 during their work.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the virus has had a severe impact when coupled with underlying health conditions and if the infected individual is older. The CDC reports vaccinating these individuals with the first supply would significantly reduce the country’s mortality rate.

Keeping people at-risk of more severe outcomes to COVID-19 out of hospitals reduces strain on health care facilities, the report says.

While COVID-19 disproportionately impacts Black Americans and other minorities, the CDC included the warning the vaccine allocations should be equally available to all Americans, both in the first round of allocation and when a vaccine becomes widely available.

“This includes a commitment to removing unfair, unjust and avoidable barriers to vaccination that disproportionately affect groups that have been economically or socially marginalized, as well as a fair and consistent implementation process,” the report says.

Further obstacles remain for widespread distribution into rural areas.

Experts say Georgians not at high-risk for severe outcome or working in the medical field will likely be waiting awhile for a vaccination. 

Dr. Amber Schmidtke, a public health researcher and former Mercer University professor, told CNHI that Americans need to buckle down and continue wearing masks and social distancing, even if a vaccine is approved — especially if it requires multiple doses to be effective.

“For the most people in Georgia, we’re probably not going to be looking at this until the second or third tier of the vaccine deployment plan,” she said after reviewing the state’s first draft plan. “Even if the vaccine were released today, it would still take months for us to get to a place where we’re vaccinating the entire population.”