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“The 360” shows you various perspectives on the main debates and debates of the day.
What is happening
A realistic path to ending the coronavirus pandemic has emerged with the announcement of promising clinical trial results for three different vaccines in development. The US public deployment of the first vaccine could begin as early as mid-December, according to the head of the government’s vaccination program.
But just starting vaccinations doesn’t mean things will get back to normal soon. Producing and distributing hundreds of millions of doses in the United States, not to mention the billions needed worldwide, is a huge logistical challenge. Most experts say Americans shouldn’t expect a vaccine to return life to some semblance of normal until at least late spring or early summer.
With that in mind, public health experts around the world have debated which groups should be vaccinated first. The strategy chosen to distribute the vaccine could have a profound effect on the duration of the pandemic and the number of lives lost.
Why there is debate
Experts widely agree that the very first doses of the vaccine should go to health workers because they are at high risk of infection and play a crucial role in fighting the virus. Most plans also include prioritizing the most vulnerable, such as those with underlying health conditions and residents of elderly care facilities. The question of who should line up after these early groups is where the debate starts to heat up.
Some of the disagreements are about strategy. Is it better to focus on limiting the number of deaths by vaccinating the elderly, or should the vaccine go to people most likely to spread the virus to large numbers of people? Should the vaccine be distributed proportionally according to the population or should areas with large outbreaks be given a larger supply?
Moral issues are also debated. Should other workers in contact with the public – grocery store staff or teachers, perhaps – also be on the front lines, given the risks they face? Should people of color come first, given the disproportionate toll the virus has taken on black and Latin American communities?
Global distribution raises its own set of questions. More than 150 countries have agreed to join an international effort to ensure vaccines are distributed fairly around the world. The United States did not. Some experts fear that countries like the United States will accumulate stocks of vaccines until all of their citizens, even those at low risk, are vaccinated while vulnerable people in developing countries are left unprotected. .
And after
US pharmaceutical maker Pfizer requested emergency approval for its vaccine last week. The FDA is due to review their request on December 10. If approval is granted, vaccinations could start as quickly as two days later. A second pharmaceutical company, Moderna, is expected to seek US approval for its vaccine by the end of December.
Perspectives
Health workers and people at high risk should receive the first doses
“The fruit at hand, so to speak, is blindingly obvious, but then it gets tricky. You clearly want to protect healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes. Then the extremely vulnerable. It’s easy. So the essential workers? It could be a very large group. – Public health expert Paul Hunter at the Washington Post
Healthcare workers and people in elderly care facilities should be on the front lines
“If the greatest risk is to the elderly in nursing homes and nursing home staff, then they will be at the top of the list. And while healthcare workers play a crucial role in sustaining healthcare services, you want to protect them too. – Immunization expert David Salisbury at Marketplace
Emphasis must be placed on the protection of minority populations
“You really have to make intentional efforts to get it to the communities that need it most. Because we do not want to see these disparities reinforced in the effort to distribute vaccines. – Dr Uché Blackstock, health equity advocate, to Yahoo News
Essential workers should be prioritized
“Essential workers – healthcare workers, grocery store workers, and many teachers, among others – are at high risk of infection because they cannot socially distance themselves. [One scientific model] finds that deaths, as well as the total number of years of life lost, are dramatically reduced when essential workers are prioritized to receive the vaccine. “- Jill Neimark, American scientist
Rich countries should not pile up vaccine supplies
“Countries that discover a vaccine – or that can pay for those that discover it – get the first dibs. All other countries just have to wait until more doses can be manufactured. It is about “vaccine nationalism”, where each nation cares about itself, prioritizing its citizens regardless of what happens to citizens of low income countries who cannot afford to. buy doses. This is a path that most ethicists believe to be wrong. It is also the path the United States is on. “- Sigal Samuel, Vox
Teachers Should Be Next After Healthcare Workers
“If the teacher vaccination allows schools to reopen, the social and economic benefits would likely outweigh the reopening of any other essential industry.” – Aaron Strong and Jonathan Welburn, Wall Street Journal
A race-based distribution plan may not hold up in court
“With a strong conservative majority, the court may well overrule any racial preference. Structural racism in the United States has resulted in much higher rates of illness and death among people of color. We need to find legal ways to protect disadvantaged people from COVID-19. – Public health legal expert Larry Gostin to Associated Press
Vaccines should be sent to people most likely to spread the virus
“The super-spread makes the virus particularly confusing. This explains why some places have experienced huge epidemics while others have been spared. … But this is also the weakness of the virus: eliminate the super-propagators and you end the pandemic. – Christopher Cox, wired
Regardless of the details of the plan if it is not executed effectively
“We cannot allow access to vaccines to become a repeat of the free and backdoor transactions resulting from the limited supply of PPE, when rich and powerful stakeholders got what they needed while the less well connected got together. were begging. Before starting vaccine distribution, the government should establish clear and comprehensive guidelines for determining who receives the earliest available doses. – Daniel L. Liebman and Nisarg A. Patel, Los Angeles Times
Logistical obstacles could prevent parts of the country from receiving early vaccine doses
“The distribution will come down to details like what vaccines are available and when. The specific storage and handling requirements of different vaccines – such as the ultra-cold storage needs of Pfizer’s injection – could also impact equitable distribution, especially in hard-to-reach areas. – Sarah Owermohle, Politico
Poor countries must have equal access
“Not making the vaccine affordable for these countries would be morally wrong. It would also be shortsighted, because, as infectious disease researchers often say, an epidemic anywhere is an epidemic everywhere. – Editorial, Nature
Vaccines should be sent to the places that need them most
“Most of the best distribution methods are blatantly unfair. In this context, however, fairness is overstated. Priority should be given to methods that will save more lives and bring the economy back faster. A central but overlooked point is that vaccines should not be shipped to all areas of the United States. Instead, it would be better to concentrate the distribution in a few places where vaccines can have a greater impact. – Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg
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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images (5)
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