Companies and industry groups lobbying to get their U.S. workers to the front of the line for COVID vaccination are running into a patchwork of state plans and confusion over who is essential, and who is not.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set an Oct. 16 deadline for states to submit plans for distributing Covid-19 vaccines – even before it becomes clear when any will be available – according to a presentation to a panel of experts who make recommendations on U.S. vaccines.

Enrollment in the 30,000-volunteer U.S. trial testing a Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech is more than 50 percent complete, according to a top Pfizer vaccine research and development scientist.

San Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics rejected a non-binding acquisition proposal from a private equity firm, saying that the offer “significantly undervalues Sorrento and is not in the best interest of the company’s stockholders.”