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LWVSFC Discussion Forum

New Yorker: Atul Gawande on COVID Vaccines

12/4/2020

1 Comment

 
COVID Vaccine Distribution: Issues of Efficacy & Equity
Excerpt from New Yorker interview 12.4.20 with Dr.Atul Gawande, author on “Being Mortal”
Interviewed by David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker
 
After health-care workers and nursing homes, who gets the vaccine next? It’s almost like some terrible philosophical, moral, ethical conundrum that philosophers are faced with all the time. What are your discussions like when it comes to those next levels?
There are eighty-seven million essential workers who are at heightened risk of exposure. They are, say, meatpackers who are exposed to co-workers, or grocery-store workers or bus drivers who are exposed. You’ll be able to go to your local pharmacy and get a vaccine, but what they need to know is, how do they identify who’s the bus driver and who’s not?
Will the government be able to guarantee us that wealthy people, connected people, won’t be able to jump the line?
I think this is one of the critical tests—and an opportunity. The chance to prove that the system is not rigged should not be underestimated. It’s hard. Think about it. The bus drivers never came before the bankers before. You’re going to have Zoom workers who want to go back to normal, and I cannot blame the number of people who will say, You know, thank God I can finally not be in fear. Let me get the vaccine. What do you mean, I have to wait five months? I can imagine a million ways [of jumping the line], people paying someone twenty-five hundred bucks to get your work I.D. tag. This is all about rallying people together. It can’t just be about the rules. It has to be about how we all understand this and work together to say, These are the folks most at risk. They make our subways work. They make our buses work. They get our food supply to us. They make it possible for me to go grocery shopping, and I’ll just have to wait three or four months for my turn.
What do you think?
Irene

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1 Comment
Stephanie Schlanger
12/5/2020 10:15:01 am

I agree, Irene: this is an test our commitment to responsible citizenship. IMHO people who perform public service should be protected first. This means health care workers, all service providers (grocery store workers, transportation workers, etc) and teachers. We all depend on public services, and these folks have been putting themselves on the line since the beginning of the pandemic. (I would not put all government leaders in this category as much as they might consider themselves essential....) The elderly and those with preexisting conditions (and I'd include pregnant women here) should also be first in line. There are measures we can take to protect ourselves, and I'm willing to wait my turn.

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