JIC RELEASE NO. 486 - Vaccine and Antiviral Prioritization Policy Committee Holds First Meeting - GHS OCD

The Vaccine and Antiviral Prioritization Policy Committee (VAPPC) held its inaugural meeting Thursday afternoon to orientate the committee members on their role and update and inform them on progress made regarding the COVID-19 vaccine as it relates to Guam.

Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) Director Art San Agustin welcomed the VAPPC members and led discussions while DPHSS Bureau of Communicable Disease Control Administrator Annette Aguon gave a brief presentation, which includes:

Key objectives for the VAPPC
Four key ethical principles
Communications and educational needs
Estimated numbers for initial allocation of vaccines
Priority Groups

Plan of Action
In addition to advising DPHSS on critical population groups who will receive the first round of vaccines, the VAPPC functions also include developing a communication plan to explain rationale for establishing target groups for vaccine treatment. They will also review and monitor current information on the use, effectiveness, and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additionally, the VAPPC will, as needed, revise priority groups and subgroups based on CDC recommendations.

The VAPPC will ensure that all recommendations and decisions are rooted in the four key ethical principles: maximize benefits, minimize harm; promote justice; mitigate health inequities; and promote transparency.

Priority Groups
The initial identification of priority groups have been broken down into three phases.

PHASE	IDENTITY	CRITERIA
1a	Healthcare personnel Residents of long-term care facilities	Having direct or indirect exposure to COVID-19 or infectious materials Requiring long-term specialized in-patient care
1b	Essential service workers	Key role to ensure essential functions are running with difficulty to socially distance while on duty
1c	People with comorbidities Elderly adults	Diagnosed with high-risk medical conditions, predisposed to severe illness, underserved communities, or are 65 years of age or older
2	Remainder of Phase 1 individuals Critical populations	Unable to receive the vaccine due to limited supply or opting out to allow others to receive it first Essential workers; underserved populations; general population
3	Remainder of Phase 2	Broaden vaccine opportunity to general public. According to CDC, rollout for this phase may occur during the summer, depending upon the availability of vaccines nationwide.

After surveying the healthcare community, essential service workers, and long term care facilities, initial estimates indicate that the number of those who will receive the first round of vaccines is about 2,600 individuals. This number, however, does not include all private sector healthcare workers. Once all data has been received, the estimates will be updated.

During today’s meeting, the VAPPC agreed to schedule its next meeting within 24 hours, preferably at 5:30 p.m., after guidelines have been released by the CDC. The next VAPPC meeting will be announced to the public.

For the latest information on COVID-19, visit dphss.guam.gov or guamrecovery.com. For inquiries on COVID-19, contact 311 through a local number, or call the Joint Information Center at (671) 478-0208/09/10.

X Flooding is a temporary overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. There are many possible causes of floods including heavy rain, coastal storms and storm surge, waterway overflow from being blocked with debris, or overflow of levees, dams, or waste water systems. Flooding can occur slowly over many days or happen very quickly with little or no warning, called flash floods.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/floods

Wildfire

Regularly clean the roof and gutters.
Maintain an area approximately 30’ away from you home that is free of anything that will burn, such as wood piles, dried leaves, newspapers and other brush.
Connect garden hoses long enough to reach any area of the home and fill garbage cans, tubs, or other large containers with water.
Review your homeowner's insurance policy and also prepare/update a list of your home's contents.

Fire Weather

Turn on your TV/radio. You’ll get the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.
Know where to go. If you are ordered to evacuate, know the route to take and have plan of where you will go. Check-in with your friends and family.
Keep your car fueled, in good condition, and stocked with emergency supplies and a change of clothes.

Drought

Conserve water

Take shorter showers.

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving.
Run the washer less frequently and only when you have a full load.
Water your lawn less frequently and do so when the temperature is cooler in the early morning or late evening.
When you run the tap to heat or cool water, keep a pitcher to store the water and use it to water plants.
Avoid washing your car.

Practice fire prevention

Don't set off fireworks when conditions are dry.
Deposit cigarette butts in the proper receptacle to avoid starting a
Pour water over camp fires and backyard fire pits to ensure they are completely out before leaving them unattended.

Follow directions from local officials. If there are restrictions on water usage, be sure to heed them.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/wildfires and https://www.ready.gov/drought

X
Typhoons/Hurricanes are massive storm systems that form over the water and move toward land. Threats from typhoons/hurricanes include high winds, heavy rainfall, storm surge, coastal and inland flooding, and rip currents.

“Hurricanes” form in the Atlantic Northeast Pacific region and “Typhoons” form in the Northwest Pacific Region. These large storms are call cyclones in other parts of the world.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes.

JIC RELEASE NO. 486 - Vaccine and Antiviral Prioritization Policy Committee Holds First Meeting