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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Set-Aside Alert news analysis:When will federal contractors get the COVID-19 vaccine?Some federal contractors will get their COVID vaccine directly from the federal agency they work for. Most probably will get it through the channels set late in 2020 and soon to be expanded by the Biden Administration. The allocation of vaccines in the Trump Administration’s decentralized distribution plan currently in place was outlined in a Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 Vaccine Work Group document of Dec. 20, 2020. It advised states and cities to distribute the vaccine in three phases:
Federal agencies: Several federal agencies that provide clinical health care services--the Defense, State and Veterans Affairs Depts., Indian Health Service and Bureau of Prisons--already have vaccinated their front-line health care workers, top executives and a few others deemed to be critical workers. There will be more focus on defense industrial base employees to come. Vaccinating “essential” workers under the current plan was spelled out in a COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook of October, 2020. The playbook relies in part on the advice given by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of Aug. 18, 2020 regarding essential workers in 17 industry sectors. CISA defined essential government workers as those who support “mission critical” and “national security” functions as well as communication networks. The agency also outlined essential roles in law enforcement, education, food and agriculture, energy, transportation, utilities and other fields. Federal agencies have leeway in deciding priorities. The DOD’s vaccine plan, released in December, aims to vaccinate uniformed service members, retirees, family members and “select” contractors, among others. Additional guidance was released on Jan. 14, 2021, by Ellen Lord, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. She said DOD may administer the COVID-19 vaccine “to employees of DOD contractors directly supporting DOD at DOD installations or in an operational environment.” In addition, the vaccine may be offered to DOD contractors providing mission-essential critical capabilities on a case-by-case basis, she added. Lord advises contractors to urge their local health departments to include Defense Industrial Base employees in their vaccination plans. State and local distribution plans The current Trump Administration plan is distributing vaccines to 50 states, 6 cities, District of Columbia, tribal governments and US territories. The cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and San Antonio. Each has created its own plan, roughly following CDC guidance. Some federal contractors will qualify to move up the line for a vaccine based on their “significant” or “moderate” risk due to health conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Over-65 contractors may get vaccines more quickly due to age. The Biden Administration also is working to speed up delivery, with a draft plan to offer vaccines through FEMA-run mass vaccination centers in each state.
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