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.
 
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.

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.

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.