Think of retirees

Re “Prioritize teachers” and “Vaccinate teachers” (Your Views, Dec. 16): We have two letters urging the Department of Health to give teachers priority in receiving early doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. But giving priority to “essential workers” starts us on a slippery slope. After all, there’s no point in vaccinating teachers and not bus drivers, janitors, lunchroom staff and so on. And if the schools should have priority, what about other government employees? I hear the Department of Motor Vehicles has a backlog.

Then there are the large private employers. Meat and poultry firms have asked for priority for their employees and their families. There are few occupations that cannot make a case for being essential and use their influence to elbow their way to the front of the line.

There is one group that cannot do that: retirees.

COVID-19 is not an equal opportunity killer. About 85% of the deaths from COVID-19 are concentrated in those over 65 and those over 55 with complicating conditions. These groups also place a similar disproportionate burden on our hospitals. But with “essential workers” pushing to the front of the line, they will go unprotected for months while the virus spreads through the population.

By contrast, for most of the “essential workers” becoming infected will keep them away from work for a couple of weeks, but few of them would die, or even be hospitalized.

Government should not play God, choosing who is worthy of saving by occupation. We should instead rely on objective criteria, like age and diagnosed medical conditions.

William Tabor, Chesapeake