With the possibility of a vaccine coming soon, plans for distributing it need to be implemented too. Vaccine manufacturers can only make so many vaccines each day and not all of the country will immediately have access to it. If I were tasked with choosing who in Fayette County, Kentucky could get the vaccine first, I would carefully consider my selection.
First, I would want the people most exposed to the virus and at risk for it to go. I believe that healthcare workers, especially those who work in the Covid ward or conduct the tests, should be tested first. These essential workers do not have the option to stay home and quarantine and instead have to face the virus head on each day, sometimes even touching the patients or being coughed/sneezed on by them. Also, I think it’s important to the Lexington community to have an adequate number of healthcare workers that can support the sick; it’s certainly never good to have a tight hospital staff because many of the employees contracted Covid.
Next, I would address those most at risk: the elderly. Since this area contains a large number of elderly folks, it’s important that they stay protected. Their immune systems are much weaker than young people’s and they are far more likely to die from contracting Covid. Old people have gone through enough having to quarantine, no longer see other senior citizen friends, be in nursing homes alone, and live in fear. I know that if a vaccine came out back home in New York, I would want my grandparents to be one of the first ones to get it so their quality of life can improve vastly.
Following, those with preexisting conditions such as asthma and obesity, which are high risks, should get the vaccine next. After all, the essential and high-risk groups get the vaccine, I think it is important to shift to what accounts for where many of the Lexington cases are coming from – the University of Kentucky. As of October 9, 2020, nearly 15% of coronavirus cases in Fayette county were from UK. Athletes who play on sports teams next to each other every day should get it first, then those who live in communal spaces, and finally the rest of the campus. Students can be extremely dangerous asymptomatic carriers who tend to have a more carefree attitude towards mask-wearing and social distancing. I think that even though they are young and less likely to suffer serious consequences of contracting the virus, they are still doing horrible damage by hanging around in crowded areas, still partying, and going home to families like mine in different states. If students are no longer susceptible to the virus, Fayette county can take a sigh of relief and not worry about what irresponsible students might bring into their local grocery store.
The last of those to get the vaccine should be babies, then low-risk adults and children. Babies tend to have a weaker immune system so they should go first but low-risk adults and children should have strong immune systems that could generally handle the virus and don’t need the vaccine immediately.
Of course, this is all my opinion and I do not actually know a lot of the data that Fayette county may base their vaccine distribution on, but this is my take what I have gathered. Until then, I hope that we continue to wash our hands, wear our masks, and socially distance. It truly is a scary time to be alive and living without a vaccine for a pandemic that has killed millions is devastating.
