Gov. Wolf defends moving smokers to top covid vaccine priority group

Smokers are among people included in Pennsylvania’s first priority group for the covid-19 vaccine, a move state officials tried to justify this week.

Health officials announced Jan. 19 that the state would follow updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommended anyone aged 65 or older and those 16 to 64 with certain conditions be moved into that first priority phase, 1A.

The conditions for people in that latter group include cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Down syndrome, heart conditions, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes and an immunocompromised state for any reason, from HIV and organ transplant recipients to use of corticosteroids and immuno-suppressants.

It also includes people who smoke and who are considered obese or severely obese.

“Our underlying mission this entire time has been to save lives,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said during a Tuesday news conference. “As part of that and thinking through the calculus of the vaccine order, we had to make sure that those most at risk were prioritized.”

Gov. Tom Wolf said the state is not required to follow CDC recommendations – but it will.

“We’re trying to recognize people who are vulnerable to covid, and it turns out that smokers are,” he said.

He said the CDC’s recognition of smokers as a high-risk group is not “making a value judgment. … They’re making a very objective health care decision – that if you’re a smoker, you are predisposed to certain pulmonary problems that make you a prime candidate for getting a severe case of covid.”

Beam called it a health call, not a judgment call. She said the best way the state can advocate for groups not in Phase 1A of vaccine distribution is to lobby the federal government for more vaccine.

“Moving those individuals into 1A … is indicative of the risk,” she said. “We know our firefighters and our teachers and corrections officers are dedicated public servants that have been front-line workers in their own right during this pandemic. We look forward to working with them in our phased response.”

The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association has asked the Wolf administration to prioritize prison guards over smokers for the vaccines.

“Our members are overworked, exhausted and are working massive amounts of overtime due to covid-19 illnesses within their ranks,” said PSCOA Vice President John Eckenrode. “The mental anguish of passing the virus to their loved ones also takes a tremendous toll. That’s why this decision to put smokers ahead of corrections officers is repugnant. It’s time for this administration to use common sense in its vaccination plan.”