Once the vaccine is available, which is expected to be in October, children 6 months of age and older, teenagers and young adults through age 24 will be among the first groups targeted by the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to receive the shots.

Pregnant women, adults who have high-risk medical conditions and health-care workers who are direct care providers are among the others who will be given the earliest shots, says Kimberlin, who is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases and associate editor of the academy's Red Book, a revered pediatric treatment manual.

Decisions about expanding or establishing priorities for vaccination should be made in accordance with local circumstances based on the judgment of state and county health officials, advises Kimberlin.

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham