First, I have no idea who is to blame for not having more vaccine available sooner, so I'm not going to address that issue. I will simply offer an opinion on who I think should be allowed to get the vaccine first.
I realize that there are many factors that can make one person more vulnerable to the Coronavirus than another person, but it would be an impossible task to try to fairly rank all of the various factors that would make one person more vulnerable than another person.
For example, how would you decide whether heart problems, cancer, diabetes, obesity, race, age, kidney problems, or any of dozens of others factors would move a person to the front of the line? It would be impossible to rank all those factors and a nightmare to try to administer and control based on all these factors... not to mention that many people would get fake doctor's orders for some condition to try to get to the front of the line.
So, I think that a simple approach is the best and undoubtedly the easiest to implement and control... and that would be to base it on AGE only. They could do this by announcing that on the date of their first shipment, they would give the vaccine ONLY to people over the age of 85. If, after a couple of days the lines start to dwindle for people over the age of 85, then (assuming they still have vaccine available) lower the age to 82.
Then, after a few more days when the lines start to dwindle for those 82 and over, they could lower the age requirement to 80. Then just keep lowering the age every few days (or weeks) until everyone who wants a vaccine has received it. It would be the easiest way of determining who is eligible because all the patient would have to do is produce identification such as a valid Driver's License or something similar to confirm their age. No one would have a valid claim of being discriminated against because either you are old enough to qualify or you're not. How much money you have or who you know or what "condition" you claim to have would not enter into the picture. Either produce valid evidence of your qualifying age or Hit The Road Jack. No other excuse or alibi is going to move you to the front of the line.
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