» Elaine Ayala notes that when it comes to the vaccine, patience is required.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve held off on making resolutions.

The ones about losing weight and saving money were postponed, and those about tossing long unused possessions only were partly successful. New stuff replaced the old.

But if there’s a resolve to embrace in 2021, which all too soon turned into a repeat of 2020 with Wednesday’s insurrection, it’s to practice patience.

The COVID-19 vaccination process will require it.

Eventually, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will receive the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

While the nation may surpass 400,000 coronavirus deaths by Inauguration Day, a more organized vaccination process is on the horizon.

We’ll have to wait our turn, not jump ahead of the line and allow the most vulnerable to go first.

The frantic, frustrating hunt for a vaccine has given way to accusations of cutting in line.

Fears about scarcity have fueled these nervios, what my mother called anxiety.

Lack of stricter screening protocols may be fueling suspicions, too.

In the midst of such worries and general confusion about vaccinations, one UT Health San Antonio official spotted a silver lining.

San Antonians believe in science.

Its “hesitancy rates” for getting vaccinated are among the state’s lowest, said Dr. Jason Morrow, who teaches at UT Health’s Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics.

“We have a limited and unpredictable supply of vaccine shipments,” said Morrow, who also heads up ethics for UT Health’s Task Force for COVID-19 Vaccine Assessment and Access.

Last week, Texas instructed providers to start vaccinating those in the 1B category, even though vaccinations for those in tier 1A, first-responders and the oldest and most vulnerable, weren’t yet completed.

Morrow said the goalposts keep moving and called logistics “exceptionally challenging,” notwithstanding the storage issues such vaccines demand.

“Our leadership is advocating for us to receive as many vaccine doses as possible, as soon as possible,” he said.

City of San Antonio officials Friday responded by selecting the Alamodome as their “no-cost mass” site.

By next week, it could vaccinate as many as 1,500 people a day.

It also could lead to ethical concerns.

Dr. Rachel Pearson, an assistant professor of pediatrics and medical humanities at UT Health, offers another ethicist perspective.

It’s not the responsibility of an individual citizen “to organize who gets it first.”

“It’s really the responsibility of the state and of health systems to get the vaccine distributed quickly, fairly and equitably,” she said.

Pearson said if you fit in the 1B category, go get your vaccine. “That being said people should be honest about their situation.”

She has heard of people, at high risk of COVID and in the 1B category, who are unsure about getting in line, uneasy about going before others at even higher risk.

Then there’s the reverse: Those who don’t strictly fit the 1B category but deemed themselves worthy of vaccination and got in line.

While some might be amplifying their health risks, they may have legitimate risks others don’t see; and providers don’t want to get into policing health claims.

Pearson doesn’t see a huge problem at hand.

“Tier 1B includes a big percentage of Texas,” including “people who are 65 and over, obese and with chronic health conditions. That’s a lot of us.”

“They should be in line at this point,” she said. Others should “Please wait. Your time is coming.”

Impacting the ethics issues have been two schools of thought.

The first believes the vaccine needs to get into the arms of those most at risk of dying. The second wants as many people as possible inoculated as soon as possible.

The latter supposes that using vaccines quickly will help the state get more vaccines quicker.

A robust turnout helps that line of thinking.

Pearson doesn’t think it needs to be one or the other. “We need to be focused on both speed and individual risk.”

She’s more concerned with those who aren’t stepping up, especially young people in multigenerational households at high risk of contracting the virus.

“I’ve cared for some of those kids in those families,” she said. “They need the vaccine.

“I felt guilty of getting the vaccine as a front-line worker before my parents,” Pearson said. “I’m in my 30s and caring for COVID patients.”

The Department of State Health Services today is expected to announce a list of hospitals and pharmacies that will serve as vaccination hubs, such as the one at Wonderland of the Americas mall run by University Health.

Next week such hubs are expected to get 75 percent of the state’s allotment of vaccines.

At some point the real problem may be anti-vaxxers and holdouts who fear the vaccination.