Region’s governments

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to ensure the new vaccine’s effectiveness and safety for different populations. The committee ultimately would determine the recommended priority populations.

Initially, it would not be recommended for children or pregnant women because it hasn’t been tested on them, Gray said. Similarly, she said the CDC advisory committee would consider whether the data shows that the vaccine would be effective for older people, including those in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

“It’s really going to depend on what the data show,” Gray said.

Virginia health officials are working with their counterparts in Maryland and the District of Columbia for a coordinated regional approach to administering the Pfizer vaccine or other potential vaccines that the federal government is pushing for development and distribution on a fast track to bring the pandemic under control.

“We’re planning for different scenarios,” Gray said, referring to the logistics of shipping, storing and distributing the vaccine.

Holston called for governments in the region to “harmonize” their distribution plans and promised that businesses would help a coordinated communication campaign to encourage people to take the vaccine when it is available to them.

“It’s what we should have done with masks all along,” he said, referring