A NEW online tool has been created which shows Americans when they may be able to get the coronavirus vaccine.
ABC News created a questionnaire using data from the Vaccine Allocation Planner tool created by Adriadne Labs and the Surgo Foundation, that assists people in finding out their place in the vaccination queue.
The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine began on December 14, as it began being administered to healthcare workers across the country.
Despite the FDA also approving a second vaccine from Moderna, the general public isn’t expected to get access to the jabs until the spring or summer.
The online tool requires users to enter the state and county that they live in, alongside their age, occupation, and whether they have any pre-existing health conditions.
The tool then calculates approximately how many people in their area are set to receive the vaccination before the user.
It also assesses how many Americans are in the same priority group.
Although only an estimate, it may ease the minds of thousands of Americans eager to receive the vaccine.
Scroll down to enter your details in the interactive tool at the end of this article.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that healthcare workers and nursing home residents should be the first groups to receive the vaccine.
However, each state can choose their own framework when deciding the priority list for the vaccination.
An advisory panel for the CDC voted on December 20 that frontline essential workers and people aged 75 and older should be next to receive it.
Priority groups were established from a committee convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
They are based on the relative risks that certain groups face which can make them more susceptible to the deadly effects of the virus.
More than 550,000 doses have already been administered nationwide since last week, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He said the priority will be broadened to include other health care workers, EMTs, medical examiners, coroners and funeral home workers in the coming weeks.
The first vaccine was administered to a critical care nurse in New York on December 14.
Both vaccines approved by the FDA require two rounds of injections before gaining immunity.
President Joe Biden received the vaccine live on television on December 21 in a bid to encourage Americans to take it once it is available to them.
The chief scientist of the federal vaccine distribution programme, Operation Warp Speed, said the young and healthy should be a low priority for the jab.
Monclef Slaoui continued that at least 70 to 80 per cent of the US population need to be vaccinated too achieve herd immunity.
More than 320,000 people have died across the country since the beginning of the year, and 16.5 million have been infected.
