#Covid #Corona #Vaccine #Priority #Nurse #Faint #White #POC #Elderly #Racist #Schmidt

The debate over who should receive COVID-19 vaccines next has intensified following suggestions that the elderly should be de-prioritized because they are more likely to be white.

'Older populations are whiter,' explained Harald Schmidt, an expert in ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, in an interview with the New York Times.

'Society is structured in a way that enables them to live longer. Instead of giving additional health benefits to those who already had more of them, we can start to level the playing field a bit,' he elaborated.

Following the first week of vaccine rollout targeting healthcare workers in high-risk roles, a federal panel of vaccination experts is set to hold an emergency meeting over the weekend to recommend who should be next to get vaccinated.

Based on a prior vote, the panel is expected to recommend that non-healthcare essential workers should take priority over the elderly in the vaccination rollout.

The panel is set to vote on Sunday, but its guidance is not binding, because each state ultimately decides how to manage vaccine distribution.

The panel members are leaning toward putting 'essential workers' next up because people like bus drivers, grocery store clerks and others who perform vital jobs that can't be done from home are the ones getting infected most often.

As well, race has entered the discussion, with some such as Schmidt pointing out that essential workers are more likely to be non-white than the elderly.

In a tweet on Friday, Schmidt backpedaled his remarks, claiming he 'never espoused race-only prioritization.'

He went on to argue that it was easier for elderly populations to self-isolate than essential workers, who may have no choice but to interact with the public through their jobs.

However, the remarks drew backlash, with one Twitter user responding, 'I cannot fathom how someone could have your opinion. ... It has always been about protecting the old.'

Another chimed in: 'vaccines should go to those who are most at risk of dying from it, and that by far is a function of age. good to know racism alive in the academy.'

'So the elderly aren’t just nonessential; they are actually quite expendable,' another chimed in. 'They’ve been stuck in their homes for 9 months because they are ‘vulnerable’ but the healthy 25-year-old liquor store associate needs the vax first.'

The vast majority of deaths in the pandemic have been among those over the age of 65. According to CDC data, those over the age of 85 are 630 times more likely to die from the virus than those aged 18 to 29.

At the same time, there have been racial disparities in the health outcomes as well. The CDC says that black and Hispanic people are both 2.8 times more likely to die from the virus than white people.

The advice of the expert panel - the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - is almost always endorsed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's what happened earlier this month, when the group said top priority should be given to health care workers and residents of long-term care homes for the 20 million initial vaccinations this month.

However, it's not clear that the CDC will follow the panel if it recommends prioritizing essential workers ahead of the elderly for the next of vaccination.

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has said he believes priority should be given to people 70 and older who live with children or grandchildren.

The advisory panel's chairman, Dr. Jose Romero, said he was aware of Redfield´s comments but had not spoken directly with him about it.

Redfield declined to say if he would prioritize senior citizens over essential workers even if the panel recommended the reverse. 'I look forward to listening to the advisory group's discussion, and to receiving its recommendation for consideration,' he said in an email.

'I think we know this isn't going to be perfect. We don't have vaccine for everyone right away, so we're going to have to make difficult decisions,' said Claire Hannan, executive director of an organization that represents managers of state vaccination programs.