Phone lines split up as usual this morning. Democrats, 202 7488000 is the number to call in. Republicans, 202 7488001. Independents, 202 7488002. You can also send us a text. That number, 202 7488003. If you do, please include your name and where you are from. You can catch up with us on social media, twitter and facebook. A very good monday morning to you. You can start calling in now. Theheadlines on this topic, first use of the vaccine maybe december 13. 40 million doses said to be available by the end of the month. That from the front page of usa today. Frontline gets the first vaccine doses, but then who . Thats the question we are asking this morning, asking you to be in the position of setting the priority, how would you do it . Turning to the cdc webpage there, i q a on how the cdc is making its covid19 vaccine recommendations. Making those disease vaccine recommendations based on the input from the Advisory Committee on immunization practices. Its a federal Advisory Committee made of medical and Public Health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the u. S. Those meetings are open to the public and on that same webpage, if the vaccine is limited, these other the groups being considered at least for early vaccination. Health care professionals and personnel, of course up first. Workers in critical and essential industries are the next people at high risk. And then people over 65 years old. I want to focus for a second on the people at risk for severe illness due to underlying medical conditions. The cdc also has a list of what those medical conditions would be that could put someone at increased risk of severe illness and covid19. Here are the risk factors. The things that might be considered to put you in a higher priority group. Cancer, chronic kidney disease, copd, heart conditions, obesity, severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking, type two the list of those Health Conditions that put somebody at increased risk of severe illness if they get covid19. Asking you this morning, how would you prioritize it. What would you do . Eric is up first, georgia. Good morning. There wouldabout be, first of all, i would educate the public and come out every day with public notices. Such as the vaccine, let people know that the vaccine, even if you get the vaccine, you can still be infected with covid19. You can still spread it. Thats very important. People still have to wear a mask. This is something people need to know now. Just because you get the vaccine, you still have to wear a mask. But to the question, limited priority to begin with. How would you prioritize the u. S. Public . I would prioritize it by people who actually wanted. People in the medical profession will be able to get first. People will be working around people who are sick. Thats normal. Anyone should know that. After that, like i said, people going to be skeptic, but they need to know that the vaccine, its like i said, people need to still will be able to get infected. I would ask the american people. Istever section of society the sickest and its most deadly citiesould go to the first, where the people are crowded together. And i would go to teachers, people like that. But just because thats what i want, that doesnt mean the people are going to want that. Republican, State College, ben, how would you prioritize Vaccine Distribution . Mostr obviously the vulnerable need to come first. Those in Nursing Homes and with underlying conditions like you mentioned at the beginning of the program. Second, those that care for them. I feel like a group that sometimes gets overlooked is frontline workers, people who work in Grocery Stores, hotels. Truck drivers through the whole pandemic, frankly when we didnt know what was going on, they were still putting themselves out there and are continuing to do that to this day. They should come after those that are truly at the highest risk. And then after that i feel the previous caller alluded to the fact that there are going to be people who are skeptical of this vaccine. I dont think its going to be the most the whole population of the United States is the most vulnerable. I think you will have a significant portion of the dont choose to get the vaccine. College town,in a can i ask how old you are . Inler im 24, i graduated 2019. Host from penn state . Caller yes sir. Host where do you think college kids should come on the list . Right now that age, that population, its one of the populations seeing the most transmissions, if not the most severe illnesses and deaths from it. To put allont want current students in a basket and say that they are all careless, i know that some are taking it very seriously. Especially those with a older relatives. But i think they should come down the line. Again, some of them might be resistant to get the vaccine. Not because, as the data shows, as far as i know, they are not at risk for getting the most sick from covid. Its them transmitting it to their relatives or people in the community. Not everyone that lives in State College is a 20yearold college kid. They should definitely be high on the list, but not the top of the list. Call thank you for the from State College this morning. Mathematicians are trying to game out the numbers here when it comes to vaccinations. Scientific american over the weekend had a story about it. One part of that story that touches on some of what hes talking about, because covid19 is lethal for those over 65 and with Health Problems but is spread rapidly and widely, a healthy young adults is more likely to recover. They face two conflicting priorities. Host these are the tradeoffs, the backandforth we are asking you about this morning. Ray is in homestead, pennsylvania. Caller im probably the most cynical one you are going to get on here, but i dont think anybody in their right mind would think that the first persons who are going to be declared as essential are the politicians. They will get their cup first. The vaccine will be distributed to the states. So, first the state politicians will say we are essential, our families are essential. Our donors are essential. Whats left will go to the local politicians to distribute. They will make themselves essential people. I know im cynical, but thats the way this country has been going for years and years. Politicians will take their cuts. Host lets game that out. Do you think that joe biden is essential . Should be high on the list . Well, hes the president , just like donald trump, he would get the best care no matter what. Other politicians, they will take their cuts first and what little is left may go to someone who needs it. Do you consider nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer essential . Any of i dont think them are essential. The other politicians will make themselves essential in a matter what. They are going to take their cuts and they are going to get there vaccinations first. Like i said, everything thats left, you might get a few nurses and doctors and a few old people after they are done, but it isnt going to go the way that people think. A plan developed by the National Academy of medicine showing how they would , how they the vaccine would do it if it was being rationed. The first would be Frontline Health workers, cleaners as well, and First Responders. Then they would follow, those with underlying conditions. And those with more chronic conditions, 65 and older and those living in group facilities. The next group down, phase two, all people over 65, critical workers in highrisk situations such as teachers, childcare workers, those with underlying conditions that put them in a moderately higher risk. And all people under 65 in prisons, jails, and attention centers. That would be the next level down. And the next level beyond that, if the vaccine is proving to be safer children, and people that work in industries such as hotels and banks. The next level down would be everyone else in the u. S. That is sort of their prioritization plan. We are asking for your plan. Once we get past the first highest level, its a trickier question. We want to hear your thoughts this morning. Dan jackson. What do you think . Caller i would appreciate very much if people would accept more the complexities within we are working. First of all, how short can you say that you are about the test . The test, it turns out, is almost 40 false negatives. I dont remember the number of false positives. Host lets set the testing aside for a second. We want to focus on this plan. With vaccines coming down the line. With theame thing vaccine. The vaccine, we really dont whenhow efficacious it is given to a broad population. What you are hearing from the company now is only one thing. That it is authorized by the fda , which means as an emergency procedure we will find out what it does when it does it. All of these plans that you see today are going to change as you find out the good side and the bad side of this vaccine. I wish everyone would take this into consideration. Stick around, in her final air we final hour we will be covering the pharmaceutical industry and diving into this process of approval and the latest news. That is happening from 8 00 to 8 45 this morning. When it comes to efficacy, some news this morning of yet another Coronavirus Vaccine being developed. This by the university of oxford and the british swedish pharmaceutical giant, astrazeneca. Announced today, 90 effective when administered at a half dose and a full booster dose later. This follows the results from pfizer and moderna. Likely to be cheaper, they write, and the british vaccine doesnt need to be stored at subzero temperatures, but can be kept in an ordinary refrigerator. That news just out this morning. More on that in the 8 00 hour. John, martins ferry. How would you prioritize this . Caller thats my question. I suffer from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Im on 24 hour oxygen. I take steroids and antibiotics. Is, will the vaccine itself, or even the flu vaccine, help me . Or will it be too much for my weakened immune system . Thank you. Ohio. John, robert, washington, independent, good morning. Four or five months ago they had the solution. Not so much a vaccine, but inis are. Whatd they have to say about using negative ionizers . Vaccineicking with the first, thats what we are weeks away from. Who should get it first and who should get it next . Caller the only thing i have to , its scaryccines by itself. , the aidsto d. C. Virus, years ago [indiscernible] host all right, thats robert in d. C. Oregon, go ahead. Caller how are you, today . Host doing well. Caller im not really of this party, but im going to tell you what i feel, i have immune deficiency called igg for. It causes bumps on your body and it can cause also cancer. You can read it online. My concern for the people that have immune deficiencies like me , my concern is that the vaccine what to they call it . Anyhow, im sorry. What im concerned about is the that havethese people immune deficiencies, like the gentleman who was talking about the other medicines there. Is thehow, my concern safety of these people that have immune deficiencies or some kind of other problems. From a few comments twitter. The most vulnerable will be those who work in steel. I would not be so quick to dispense to all Health Care Workers until we know it is safe. Not beio, it should based upon age, occupation, health, or race. Thats greg in cleveland this morning and one more from deliver tony and, those of the highest risk of developing severe infection should go first. Health care workers are most likely and then the next in line are those most likely to die from it. Thats the question we are asking this morning, give us what your priority would be when it comes to a limited amount of vaccine supply in the american population, how would you break it down . Phone calls split up as usual by party. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, 202 7488000. Independents, 202 7488002. I do want to go through some other news this morning about the upcoming Biden Administration and the cabinet that joe biden is setting up. The president elect is planning to announce that he has selected one of his longestserving policy advisors according to three people familiar with the announcement. Jake sullivan, another topfive advisor expected to be named as National Security advisor according to two people familiar with the announcement. The Washington Post with more insight on a biden count cabinet, linda thomas greenfield as the nominee for ambassador to the United States, giving an africanamerican woman one of the most highprofile diplomatic posts in government. That is according to their sources. A little bit know about tony blinking, a staff member for biden while he was chairman of the Foreign Senate Relations committee, worked on the president ial campaign and during the Obama Administration he was the National Security advisor and deputy secretary of state, cofounding a political Strategy Firm along with michelle flournoy. She is widely considered to be in contention to serve as defense secretary in a Biden Administration and would be the first woman to take that role if picked. That announcement, that formal announcement expecting to come tomorrow. Thats what the post is reporting today. Back to your phone calls asking you how you would prioritize covid Vaccine Distributions. Gregory out of california, how would you do it . Think are you still with us . Yes, i think host are you still with us . Caller yes, i am. Im comfortable with what ive read about the priorities being set by the cdc and the generals in charge of distribution. First, the frontline workers. Then prioritizing the most vulnerable. The one monkeywrench for me,alling from Central California my bishop, the Catholic Bishop of fresno, stated yesterday that be allowed for catholics to take from take the vaccine because its made from aborted stem cells. I would be curious for you to ask your guests this morning if that is the case and what Additional Information we can get on that. Host i will ask that, thanks for bringing it up. Stick around, 8 00 on the east coast we will be talking with andrew of bloomberg about that. Johnny, milwaukee, independent, you are next. Thank you for having me speak today. My concern is, and as the priority should be, systematically sending it out to Health Care Workers first. Firstline defenders, as well as i would like to suggest what one other person made, given that 50 of the people in that category will see how the vaccine works. Secondly, i would like to, for people who are sick, make the treatment that donald trump took to get them over the hump to the next level. I hope everybody understands that we are in a bad cyst bad situation right now and we need cooperation from the Trump Administration so the Biden Administration can take over and get rid of this scourge and the American Public so that people can get back to work and get back on track. Host before you go, one of the earlier collars said that those living in cities should be prioritized and that racial considerations should be taken into account, considering who is being impacted by coronavirus and covid19. What are your thoughts on that as someone who lives in milwaukee . I think thats a serious concern. However, because of the nature of the way this vaccine will be distributed, we have to take all of that into account in order to think to pick. Whoever makes that decision, it will be hard no matter who it is. Big cities, people who have preexisting conditions, its going to be a crucial issue to making that decision. Dr. Fauci, as well as the Biden Administration coming in, they need to coordinate that right away to save lives. We have people dying unnecessarily. Our economy is suffering. Thats johnny, milwaukee. An article earlier this month here on the issue of prioritization. This is what they wrote in one of their lead stories. Frontline health workers, likely to be at the head of the line. There is support among Public Health experts to make special efforts to deliver it for early to the black, latino, native hawaiian, Pacific Islander host a story on the topic that we are talking about, vaccine priority. What would be yours . Hollis, amarillo, good morning. Caller the Health Care Workers the first people to get it. Because. Host because why . Caller they defend everyone, without them we will have no one to take care of us. Ont everyone seems to agree that, Health Care Workers should be first in line. Who is second, third, fourth . What comes next . How would you prioritize that . Think i would say, i that the people who have, you ,now, the copd and, you know the people who are sick, you know what i mean . Dont think it should be going by race or whatever. Im a black man and i dont think it should be going by race. It should be going by who is the sickest in the nation. Thats who needs to get it first. Host gracie on facebook writes in this morning that she thinks schoolage children should get the vaccine first, as the children are our future. Thats what she writes. Children are obviously not the ones who are getting the sickest from covid19, but she think that should be a priority. What do you think about where children should fall . I agree. This is going to be a decision, you know . The children definitely should get it. You understand . They are the people who spread it real fast. All the school kids, this would be a very hard decision, very hard. Im glad i dont have to make it. Host this is barbara out of winterhaven