Age-Based Vaccine Distribution Is Not Only Unethical. It’s Also Bad Health Policy.

Publication Date

3-9-2021

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Sturm College of Law

Keywords

Vaccines, Bioethics, Public health, Health policy

Abstract

Americans are queuing up for coronavirus vaccinations, but some states have started pushing vulnerable residents out of the vaccine line. Maine removed eligibility for all front-line workers and people with high-risk medical conditions, instead basing vaccine access solely on age. (It later restored eligibility for teachers, following the Biden administration's announcement that it would prioritize them.) Other states, such as Connecticut and Nebraska, have made similar age-focused changes. In Maine and Connecticut, a healthy 50-year-old working from home will be eligible for vaccination, while a 44-year-old front-line worker with diabetes living in a hard-hit community will be turned away.

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