Member-only story
The Science-Backed Plan to Distribute a Covid-19 Vaccine
Experts who designed the plan took equity concerns to heart
Once a Covid-19 vaccine is proven safe and effective, the next step will be distributing it to the people who need it most urgently. Opinions differ on who — and how — to prioritize, on both a national and an international level. On Friday, a committee from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released its report outlining a science-backed plan to distribute a vaccine throughout the United States. Its strategy, notably, puts an emphasis on equitable distribution.
“Inequities in health have always existed, but at this moment there is an awakening to the power of racism, poverty, and bias in amplifying the health and economic pain and hardship imposed by this pandemic,” said committee co-chair Helene Gayle in a statement. The plan consists of four phases, organized by priority groups.
Phase one:
According to the report, the first people to get the vaccine should be frontline health workers, first responders, and the people who work in services that support them, like transportation and environmental workers. The vaccine will also be given to people whose existing health conditions put them at high risk of having severe illness or death from…
