Health

Who Is A Priority For Getting The Vaccine?

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Pat Finn / Producer

Published January 4, 2021 at 1:16 PM PST

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

Diego Varras, an employee of Kaiser Permanente San Diego, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Zion Medical Center. Dec. 16, 2020.

We know that healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities are first in line to receive the Coronavirus vaccine. But who's next?

Most Californians, it seems, want to be in a priority category to receive the next round of Coronavirus vaccines when they are given out — judges, teachers, ride-share drivers, fishermen, dockworkers, midwives — you get the idea.

Thousands of people from these groups and many more have petitioned the state's Community Vaccine Advisory Committee to be included in Group 1B, the next group to receive the vaccine when it is available.

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Greg Moran, a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune, notes that as the virus has taken the lives of more than 25,000 Californians, there is a growing sense of urgency to move up the priority list for the vaccine.

Moran joined KPBS Midday Edition Wednesday about the daunting task facing the task force as they decide who's next.

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Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Pat Finn

Pat Finn previously served as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and KPBS Evening Edition. Finn began her career in broadcasting at KTLA and KCET in Los Angeles. In 1979 she became KPBS’ Public Information Director, then Director of Advertising and Promotion, Program Director, and Director of Broadcasting. She oversaw the station’s local and national productions, including the one-hour documentary Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar, and Child Protective Services, a one-hour look inside the San Diego County agency responsible for the welfare of at risk children. Both programs also aired on public television stations nationwide. Finn has earned honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

See stories by Pat Finn