Vaccine push starts now

Determining distribution, building support requires all hands on deck

The widespread death and immense tragedy throughout the pandemic have been difficult for most to absorb, much less fully comprehend. The United States lost thousands of people to the virus last week, and Virginia counted more than a hundred COVID-19 deaths in the week after Thanksgiving.

Hospitals in many places across the country find themselves overwhelmed and lacking the capacity to handle more infected and terribly ill people streaming into their intensive care units. The grim winter that many health experts predicted is here, and the coming weeks and months promise to be almost unfathomably awful.

There is a light in the darkness, however, in the form of vaccines backed by promising research and the prospect for distribution to health care workers and the most vulnerable very soon. All effort should be devoted to streamlining that process, making sure the vaccine is delivered promptly, smartly and in the order of most need.

Gov. Ralph Northam, speaking at a press conference last week, outlined the first steps in that effort. But while the federal and state governments will handle the logistics, successful distribution of the vaccine will take a national effort, centered in every community and requiring the determined efforts of leaders from across the spectrum.

That doesn’t simply mean elected officials or those who work in government. Overcoming skepticism and distrust, fear and ignorance, will take civic and faith leaders, academics and journalists, business leaders and entertainers — everyone in a public-facing role who speaks with authority and moral clarity.

Polling suggests that a substantial number of Americans are reluctant to take a coronavirus vaccine, citing a variety of reasons. Those numbers are interesting only as an indication of the heavy lifting required and should ebb as the distribution process unfolds.

Still, it’s an important reminder that everything about the vaccine happens in the bright glare of public attention, and it’s critical those in positions of authority act deliberately, communicate clearly and make thoughtful decisions to resolve some tricky questions, such as the order of distribution and which groups deserve priority.

Northam said on Wednesday that Virginia expects to receive enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the coming weeks for 70,000 people and will prioritize health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. The governor said what follows — how many additional doses the commonwealth will receive and to whom they will go — are the subject of discussion.

If employment is a determining factor, those who work in the public schools would seem the best choice to follow, given the pressing need to resume in-person classroom education safely. Those who work in food production and distribution, first responders, prisons and homeless shelters may follow, seeking to stop community spread in highly populated locations.

However, Virginia must weigh that against the need to tend to the most vulnerable — people with underlying conditions that put them at greater risk of the virus, for instance.

The commonwealth should also consider that COVID-19 is ravaging minority communities, making these groups a priority for vaccination as well.

Those are difficult choices, and science will guide the decision making. But the commonwealth should also be standing up a campaign to encourage participation, enlisting as partners individuals and groups who inspire the public trust and can speak competently about the virus.

Information about priority and distribution should be clear, concise and easily available to all, regardless of geography, income and background. This should be a massive outreach effort and will require all parties pulling in the same direction to succeed.

As we were reminded again from this year’s Census, connecting to traditionally underserved communities — the poor, minorities, others with reason to distrust government — is difficult and shows the challenge ahead. So it will take innovative thinking to reach them, with an “all hands on deck” mentality.

That effort cannot wait and will require Virginians working together. The darkness ahead is unmistakable, but a light of hope is now readily visible.