We shouldn’t yet allow everyone to get COVID-19 vaccine
By the end of the week, every adult in 18 states will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. More states will follow next week.
Pennsylvania shouldn’t join that growing pack, at least not immediately.
Gov. Tom Wolf indicated last week that the state is considering doing away with vaccination phases and welcoming everyone to roll up their sleeve in the coming months. That might be appropriate down the road, but not yet.
While the demand for vaccines is great, universal eligibility is a mistake at this point in the pandemic. Pennsylvania should stick to its plan to vaccinate in phases, based on risk.
Universal eligibility may be well-intended. It definitely is politically popular. But it doesn’t make sense right now.
People who are most at risk of getting seriously sick or dying from the coronavirus — the elderly and those with underlying health conditions — deserve first priority. The goal should be to keep people alive and out of hospitals.
Also deserving priority are people who have at-risk jobs in health care, emergency response, education, retail, restaurants, food processing and similar industries that have frequent contact with the public or work in close quarters.
Everyone else should have to wait. While vaccine supplies are increasing, there isn’t enough to open the door to all just yet.
It makes sense to do this in order, as Pennsylvania’s plan calls for. If vaccination slots are going unfilled, then the state should move on to the next phase. But it shouldn’t go wide open.
Creating an order presents challenges, such as whether to prioritize teachers over police and other public safety workers. But at least those who are the most at risk because of age, health or occupation all get higher consideration.
President Joe Biden said recently he wants every adult in the U.S. to be eligible for vaccination no later than May 1.
That’s fine to use as a goal.
But vaccinations are a state function, not a federal function.
States have had the freedom to call their own shots throughout the pandemic. They’ve decided whether to mandate masks. They’ve decided when businesses should be opened or closed. They’ve decided when to enact quarantine periods for out-of-state travelers.
That’s how it should be with vaccinations, too. Biden should butt out. His role should be to provide vaccines to the states, and let the states decide how to distribute them.
Wolf said he wants Pennsylvania to meet Biden’s goal.
“I think he’s right,” Wolf said during a news conference last week in Scranton. “The goal should be to get to that point as quickly as possible so that it’s open to everybody. In a perfect world, that will be the next phase.”
He said that goal “really throws out the old 1A, 1B, 1C thing.”
Pennsylvania needs to vaccinate a lot more of its most-vulnerable population before it considers that.
As of Monday 39.7% of our residents age 65 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was one of the worst rates in the nation. The state was tied for 24th in the rate of seniors who have at least one shot, at 73.3%.
Older Pennsylvanians already are struggling to make appointments because of the lack of a statewide central registration system. Without a universal phone number or website, they are wasting hours scouring websites of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
When an online appointment spot opens, if they aren’t savvy enough to fill out the form quickly enough, someone else will grab it. If they have to compete with the general public, they could have an even more difficult time.
In its announcement that all Texans were eligible to be vaccinated, the Texas Department of State Health Services asked vaccine providers to continue to prioritize those most at risk of severe illness and death.
The department said it has “directed vaccine providers to prioritize people 80 years old or older when scheduling appointments and accommodate anyone in that age group who presents for vaccination, whether or not they have an appointment, by immediately moving them to the front of the line. That will ensure vaccination of anyone 80 or older with as small a burden on themselves as possible.”
Those instructions create a big potential for conflicts.
I don’t think it will be a pleasant discussion if a bunch of people who lucked out and were able to schedule appointments are told to stand aside when older people walk in without an appointment.
I’m as anxious as anyone to get vaccinated. I’d love to see Pennsylvania make everyone eligible — at the appropriate time.
Vaccine supplies are increasing and the state’s distribution has improved, so maybe a month from now, the picture will be brighter. If by then the most at risk have gotten their shots, everyone else can line up.
But until that happens, Pennsylvania should stay the course and focus its vaccinations on those who need the protection the most.