As we get closer and closer to having a COVID-19 vaccine available for the public, the C.D.C. will soon be deciding who to recommend as a priority in receiving this limited initial supply of the vaccine. The groups that are most vulnerable to the virus are seniors and those with underlying conditions. On the other hand, people who work in necessary facilities and businesses, from hospitals to grocery stores, are on the front lines and interact with tons of people every day. Though it’s ultimately up to governors and state officials to decide, this discussion is a difficult one all around and I don’t think there’s really a perfect solution to this.
The choice mainly comes down to whether the goal is preventing deaths or slowing the spread of the virus– both of which are obviously important, and there are many factors that complicate the matter. Prioritizing essential workers would curb the rate of infection, but in the U.S. around 70% of workers are deemed essential workers, making the definition of “essential” even more confusing. This group ranges from food and healthcare workers to educators, engineers, exterminators, and countless other people. It’s unlikely that there will be enough of the vaccine for this entire group, so the decision of which workers should be vaccinated first also needs to be made. Alternatively, if the goal is to extend human lives then that would mean vaccinating older Americans first at the expense of reducing the rate of infection and being able to return to some sense of normalcy. A committee of medical experts that advises the C.D.C. will soon vote on who to recommend for the second phase of vaccination. In a meeting last month, all voting members of the committee showed more support for essential workers rather than those 65+ and those with high-risk health conditions.
Personally, I think that vaccinating some members of different groups would be both effective and a way to reduce overall damage in the long run. I’m sure many essential workers are also immunocompromised and/or are older, making them more vulnerable. There are also higher infection rates amongst low-income people/workers, so they should be considered too. Emergency responders and healthcare workers (and in general those who interact with the public on a regular basis) should also be prioritized. But overall, it’s terrible that a choice has to be made on who is more “essential” and which groups should be preserved over others.
Who should be the first to receive a vaccine? Is there a successful way to vaccinate some members of a certain group but not others?
How do you define “essential workers”?
Is the income of a family/individual a valid aspect to consider when determining who should be first to be vaccinated?
Like you said, it is hard to determine who is the "most essential" because there are many different factors. I think that reducing the spread and infection rate of the virus is very important though because then that will result in less deaths. I believe that health care workers should be among the first group of people to receive the vaccine because of how often they come into contact with it. It is hard to determine who should then get it next, but those who are more at risk of being harshly impacted by the virus should be next in line. The lower infection rates are, the less deaths. I also believe that if people follow CDC guidelines, it will help the spread so those who can not get vaccinated but have the choice to stay inside and/or follow other health measures should continue to do so while they wait. -Rowan CC
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's hard to define essential. However, I do believe that it is necessary to vaccinate these workers first as the elderly have the option to stay home and quarantine themselves as they have been doing already. In defining essential workers, I totally agree with Rowan that healthcare workers should be the first to receive the vaccine, as many of them come in direct contact with patients who have the virus everyday. Many have to stay away from their families because of the possibility of their getting the virus from their patients. With this vaccine, many of these workers can go home knowing their families are safe. After healthcare workers get their vaccines, anyone who has to come into work and come into contact with people should be deemed an essential worker and receive the vaccine(grocery store workers, etc.) I think it is appropriate to vaccinate the elderly at this time as well. After all these people have been vaccinated, everyone can get vaccinated. However, I do realize that this process will take a while.
ReplyDeleteThis question really does bring up a discussion of ethics and what we as people want to do because there is no easy solution as it has been pointed out before. As we learned about what the mindsets of people of the past were, I'm sure that we and the rest of America will be looked at in the future and hopefully we make the right choice the first time and save lives sooner than later. I think Rowan and Diya mentioned really logical solutions that it isn't the elderly going out to work everyday with the public, so they have the decision to stay inside and they aren't earning an income or saving people by going out, so I think that the essential workers, the brave people that are interacting with others and saving them or working at the supermarket and the ones that really have to interact with other people, should be the ones to get the vaccine. I think there is a successful way to vaccinate some groups and not others because there is an order of the people who have the choice to be safe, and as a country, we should be encouraging a cure for those who need it most right now, then we can talk about the rest of the people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point you brought up about how the elderly don't work and often have the ability to self-quarantine more. While I don't think someone's worth in society necessarily equates to the amount of work they do or what they contribute, the elderly aren't really working, while many essential workers are crucial to society. I think that's a good argument to support the essential workers being vaccinated first, since, as you pointed out, they are the ones risking themselves more.
DeleteTo my understanding vaccines are not a cure for diseases, they prevent them. Thus I think vaccines should be distributed to those who are not inflected but has the greatest risk of getting it from exposure such as medical staff like Diya and Rowan said. I agree that it's very difficult or even impossible to define essential workers, as they all contribute to the good of a community. I think determining the "most essential" workers is impossible because it is subjective to who is deciding: Some may think groceries stores like Costco needs to be back soon as possible, while some other cannot wait for some local restaurants to reopen anymore. It would be interesting to see how the CDC decides who gets the vaccine first. But overall I agree with Rowan, Diya, and Caitlin that health care workers should get the vaccine first.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe that a thee vaccine should be distributed to those who are most vulnerable to disease, or a person who possess great risk for infection. This would include medical staff, elderly, or those who have health issues. Thee next group of people who should be vaccinated are those who come in contact with the general public often, like business owners or restaurants. This would reduce the risk of passing the virus to another person, and would prevent others from passing onto the owners, allowing them to continue business. As everyone else above has mentioned, it's difficult to determine the meaning of essential workers. The denotation of essential according to google is "absolutely necessary; extremely important." Obviously, the most important people who are combating the virus are health care workers. I also with Zeke that shops like Costco or other well known could be considered essential workers, as people need to buy groceries on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I do think that people will tend to vaccinate the rich first, but I could be completely wrong. Society has always tended to favor the rich so I wouldn't be surprised if that were to happen.
ReplyDeleteI also think that vaccinating business and restaurant owners is a good idea. Not only do they interact with the public on a regular basis, but they run businesses that can provide jobs and help the economy recover. I also hope that your comment about the rich being favored for vaccines doesn't come true- it wouldn't really be fair since they can afford good healthcare and medical expenses.
DeleteI believe that vaccinating vulnerable or susceptible essential workers is the highest priority, as they have to work. To agree with your point Laura, I think that spreading out the vaccines between multiple groups is important. I think that it's absolutely not okay to allow higher income families to get earlier access to the vaccine, as these families would probably have an easier time managing symptoms of COVID and self-quarantining. I believe that by vaccinating the rich first, we would be wasting vaccines that could have helped a homeless person or a hospital worker who is lower income, and this is not okay at all. I think that the priority should be on vaccinating the most vulnerable individuals while more vaccines are produced.
ReplyDeleteI think the first people who should get the vaccine are essential workers, considering they are most at risk to catch COVID (as they work around it constantly). I would define essential workers as people inside the health field, as well as grocery store workers because their jobs are necessary for public health. I believe that the lower class should be vaccinated first, because they usually live in worse conditions than the wealthy as well as the likelihood they live in close quarters with many other people (higher rate of outbreak) is much higher.
ReplyDeleteThe first group to receive the vaccine should be those above a certain age range that are statistically proven to have a greater susceptibility to the virus. I don't particularly care about "essential workers" catching it if for their age range the mortality rate is lower than most strains of flu.
ReplyDeleteI dislike the term "essential workers." Understandably, it's meant to refer to people's value to society, but I don't think we should be judging professions by perceived value to society - how do you define the value of art, for example? How do you define the value of the stability of a solid income to a family? All jobs are essential to somebody, and our focus (especially with having access to a vaccine) must be on reopening our economy.
Income is invalid, and non-biological demographics in my opinion are invalid in general. Look up the CDC statistics for this; younger age ranges are barely affected in comparison to our elders. More teens have died from suicide during quarantine than of COVID-19. Prioritize those that are at risk of harm from the virus, and let normal life continue for those that are not.
I believe that the first people to receive the vaccine should be the "essential workers" mostly because they have to work in order to keep the world spinning and they have way more exposure than older people, who should stay home all the time anyway. Essential should be first but there should be tiers of essential starting with Health Care works then grocery store employees and so on until you have completed the most essential, something probably decided by the feds. Once they believe all the essential workers are good, then you can move onto the elderly and immuno-compromised. Only then should the vaccine be distributed to the public based on a first come first served. Although I wish that the vaccine wasn't considered for the rich first, it probably is going to be. The companies are looking to make huge profits off of the vaccine and the richest people like to have the cool things before anyone else. Rich people will have it first because that's just the reality of it, even if many don't like that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about who needs the vaccine first, I would definitely say healthcare workers such as nurses, doctors, or any individual with a job that has a high risk of physical contact with a person that has COVID. Then after that, I agree with others that it should go to those who must go to work in order to support their family. After reading these responses, I do feel a bit sad because it seems like the majority’s opinion is that the distribution of the vaccine must be done in a practical manner. My heart goes out to the elderly. Yes, as Diya mentioned, they are able to stay home and quarantine alone, but if anything their actions are more restricted than any other group because they have such high risk of getting COVID. They also deserve to meet their family in person. At the end, I do think that the economic status of an individual will be considered when the distribution of vaccines occurs. My prediction is that politicians will receive some of the first doses, just based on what I’ve heard from the news and how some countries are distributing their vaccines.
ReplyDeleteHealthcare workers who are working directly with COVID patients in heavily afflicted areas, or those with jobs with lots of person-to-person contact in general should receive the vaccine first, in order to prevent its immediate spread in some of the most dangerous areas. After those people have been vaccinated, I agree with Farrah's point lower income people should be vaccinated next as these people could be on the brink of losing their jobs and dipping into poverty. With regards to vaccinating some but not everyone, "herd immunity" is a fascinating concept where if a certain majority of people are vaccinated, the virus will essentially stop spreading. Once we reach that threshold, we may no longer have to continue vaccinating. "Essential Workers" means healthcare workers, those providing food whether working at a grocery store or doing food delivery, most servicepeople, and various other groups of people that cannot work remotely.
ReplyDelete1. I think that the frontline workers should get the vaccine first. Basically the people who are most likely to contract the virus due to their job, nurses, store clerks, etc. I think if the Government sat down with a think tank and thought it through, they could come up with a list of priorities.
ReplyDelete2. Essential Workers aren't the same as Frontline workers. Essential workers are the workers who are needed to uphold the basic needs of society and the economy, not all of them are neccessarily at risk for the virus.
3. I don't think it would hurt to consider it. People with more access to wealth will most likely likewise have better healthcare, and will therefore be better able to take care of themselves. That being said I think this factor should be secondary, to all Frontline, Essential, and Elders.
1. As Anthony mentioned, the elderly are the ones dying and most desperately need the vaccine, so they should be the ones to receive it. There of course needs to be a clear cut process to vaccinations or, as Farrah mentioned, politicians can exploit it to receive the vaccine first.
ReplyDelete2. There is no real way to define essential workers, because everyone is necessary to society. Value cannot be placed on a certain individual based on their profession, so creating one would create a class system in America. Creating an "essential workers" bracket would inevitably lead to a dystopian end, and since the news usually only refers to health care workers, they should refer to them as such.
3. Maderno is partnering with the US government, which would subsidize or create completely free the vaccine for everybody. Theoretically, income should not be an issue, but if the question comes up then the virus should undoubtedly go towards those with a lower income.
It's extremely hard to decide whether or not elderly people or essential workers should receive the vaccine first. Elderly people are at a higher risk to contract snd die from the virus, but most stay home and are strictly following safety precautions, therefore, I believe essential workers should recieve the vaccine first. They need to get back to working regularly to provide for their families, but also serve the community. Essential workers are also exposed to the virus more than elderly people, which means they are also at high risk. I think the top priority should be nurses, doctors, other medical professionals, and firdt responders should get the vaccine first because they are exposed to so many people, but are also responsible for the health of others. I also think that income does play a part in who receives the vaccine first. So many people are struggling right now because they lost their jobs or aren't able to work as much so they aren't making as much money. Some can barely put enough food on the table or are relying on their children, who are also in school, to work or take care of younger siblings, just so they can have enough money to even keep their house, severely affecting their learning as well. In order for them to get back to work to support their families, they also need to have some sort of priority when it comes to receiving the vaccine. Most elderly people are retired, so they don't have to worry about getting back to work.
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