As health care workers and nursing home residents await the first syringes of the COVID-19 vaccine, few realize that when they will get a dose depends a lot on what state they live in.
Though they’re first in line for the vaccine, some people in those groups may get vaccinated after people in other states who are deemed lower priority.
The vaccine is allocated according to the number of adults in each state, which doesn’t correlate to the number of high-risk people living or working there. As long as supplies are limited, some states won’t get doses proportionate to their needs.
In those places, medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities will be exposed to the coronavirus for weeks or months longer. They’ll be more vulnerable to sickness and death. Nevada is one of the winners. According to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Surgo Ventures and Ariadne Labs, the state has relatively few residents in the highest priority group