UK Core Issue: How do We Distribute Covid Vaccines?

When it comes time to distribute the COVID vaccine, I think that the groups that should be prioritized are healthcare providers, those who work in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, and school aged children.

I think it is important to include each of these groups for different reasons. Health care providers are around patients all day long. Not only do they face the risk of getting COVID from one of their patients, but also risk exposing their other patients to COVID. Vaccinating health care workers will allow protection of both the health care workers and their patients. Similarly, vaccinating those who work in assisted living facilities will prevent exposure of COVID to a high risk group of people. By vaccinating the workers in assisted living facilities, the patients are also protected as the essential workers will not be bringing COVID into the facility. I think that vaccination within assisted living facilities should be distributed to the workers and not the residents because the residents are more likely to have compromised immune systems, which can result in complications if vaccinated.

The other group that is important to vaccine is school-aged children in public schools. Many concerns I have heard from parents are that they have to find child care during the day because their children are not in school. Vaccinating elementary and middle school children, along with their teachers, would allow a smoother transition back to school and allow many parents to return to work or relieve the financial burden of paying for child care. High school children would not be included in this because these children are able to care for themselves and can stay home during the day while their parents are at work. If enough vaccines are remaining, they should be distributed to high school students who have none or limited access to a computer or internet connection. This would allow them to return to school and receive their education without worries regarding their technology. These vaccinations would be limited to children in public schools. I know several students who attend private schools who have been learning in person because they are not required to follow public school guidelines. Public school students should be prioritized because they are the ones restricted to online learning.

Vaccines could be distributed at places of work. Health care workers would receive their vaccines at the hospital or institution at which they work. Assisted living employees could also be vaccinated at their place of work. Student vaccination would need to be offered over a period of time to account for the density of students. Vaccines should be offered at multiple locations to accommodate the needs of these families. Some of these locations could include the school itself, bus stops, or doctors offices. Once each student has been vaccinated, a return to school can begin.