The rollout of the Salk polio vaccine did not go smoothly. In April 1955, it faced critical shortages. When the vaccine was approved, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare did not have a single injection available; the campaign to cure polio was to be funded by charitable donations. But the polio vaccine rollout did have one element well worked out: there was a clear priority system, a waiting line with the youngest and most vulnerable kids first. Everyone else had to wait.
The situation is different with the rollout of the Covid vaccine. We do know that children, reasonably enough given the epidemiology of the disease, are not a priority. But who is? While most states have health care workers at the front of the list, followed by those with severe health risks, it is not at all clear how we should prioritize within each group. Should people of color be offered the front of each line? Are risks additive? Should an elderly essential worker go ahead of someone who is merely elderly? Do we prioritize recent hot spots?
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