Vaccine  Priority, Queue-Jumping, Trust in Scientific Innovation

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February 11, 2021


** Whose Underlying Conditions Count for Priority in Getting a Covid Vaccine?
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Hastings scholar's commentary in Scientific American
Many conditions increase the risk of Covid-19, but only 12 of them appear on the vaccine priority list created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used by many states. “The list is no model for ethical vaccine distribution,” writes Liz Bowen, the Rice Family Fellow in Bioethics and the Humanities at The Hastings Center, in Scientific American. The CDC’s list includes common conditions, but overlooks those that are rare—even though rare conditions collectively affect 25 million people. While this oversight has received scant attention, Bowen calls for potential remedies. “We could give physicians the license to use clinical judgment and determine whether their patients should be prioritized, as Virginia has done,” she writes. “We could expand the CDC’s recommended phases to include people with developmental disabilities, as Maryland and Ohio have done.” Read her commentary in Scientific American
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** In the Media: Vaccine Enthusiasm, Vaccine Hesitancy, and Ethical Challenges
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With variations in Covid-19 vaccine eligibility and access across states, "queue-jumping" continues to present ethical and justice challenges. In an interview with the New York Times, Hastings Center research scholar Nancy Berlinger commented, “When we jump the queue, we’re not only putting ourselves literally ahead of other people, we are actually working against the health of other people, because some people came into this pandemic with higher risks.” Read the New York Times article ([link removed]) .

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Berlinger explained that queue-jumping violates foundational norms -- such as the idea that cutting in line is “shameful" -- and it is form of "deception," as it may involve lying. Read the Philadelphia Inquirer article ([link removed]) .

Responding to vaccine hesitancy among minority populations is of crucial importance in effective vaccination strategies. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Berlinger said that health policymakers need to seek out and give priority to the most at-risk populations and proactively respond to vaccine hesitancy. “Low risk and high privilege is easy to vaccinate,” she said. “The virus is winning if people at high risk of infection keep being at risk.” Read the Wall Street Journal article ([link removed]) .

In cases where people from wealthier neighborhoods are going to poorer neighborhoods that have been prioritized to receive Covid-19 vaccines, the outsiders are flexing their privilege—and undermining efforts to reduce health inequities, Hastings Center senior advisor Faith Fletcher told NPR. "They have access to transportation. They have access to information, to the internet." Read the NPR interview ([link removed]) .



** Hastings Announces Omenn and Darling Gift to Bolster Trust in Scientific Innovation
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Preeminent science researcher and science policy expert Gilbert S. Omenn, MD, PhD, and national nonprofit leader Martha A. Darling have made a major gift to The Hastings Center to support trusted and trustworthy scientific innovation. “Dr. Omenn and Ms. Darling understand that trust in science is a two-way street,” said Mildred Z. Solomon, the Center’s president. “On the one hand, science must be worthy of our trust, meaning that it is evidence-based and aims to benefit all of us. On the other hand, the public must be encouraged to trust and utilize trustworthy science. Distrust of science among the public undermines our collective wellbeing. This fund will transform The Hastings Center’s ability to address these challenges.” Read more ([link removed]) .


** Hastings Fellows Update
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Alondra Nelson was named deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology ([link removed]) . Read more about Nelson’s appointment and what it means for the return of science to the White House in a recent essay by Joseph Fins inHastings Bioethics Forum ([link removed]) . Lawrence Gostin was featured in “China’s Covid Secrets,” a PBS Frontline documentary special ([link removed]) , which identifies numerous missed opportunities at the local and national level in China to suppress the outbreak and reveals lessons for the world.


**
Upcoming Events
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Hastings Center President Mildred Solomon will be the guest speaker on "Included: The Disability Equity Podcast," of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center. February 19, 2pm Eastern Time.

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The Hastings Center seeks to ensure responsible health and science policy and practice. We work to secure the wisest possible use of emerging technologies and fair, compassionate, and just health care for people across their lifespan.

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