In general, the efficient development, production, administration, and distribution of pandemic vaccines play an immeasurably significant role in the prevention of disease and the reduction of its effects on the health of community members in the future. Regardless of the fact that the characteristics of the subsequent virus strain and the severity and timing of the next pandemic remain unknown, it is highly essential for nay state across the globe to plan and be prepared (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2020). On the basis of the examination of the influenza pandemic in the United States, it is possible to conclude that the national pandemic vaccination program’s overarching aim is to vaccinate all individuals in the country “who choose to be vaccinated, prior to the peak of disease” (CDC 2020, 3). In addition, the government’s plan implies the availability of the vaccine’s first doses within twelve weeks of a pandemic declaration by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the President (CDC 2020). That is why substantial resources are invested to evaluate the new approaches to vaccine development and production technologies.
As a matter of fact, the availability of pandemic vaccine traditionally depends on “the degree to which any stockpiled vaccine matches the circulating pandemic strain,” the type of existing vaccine, the growth properties of a virus, and vaccine manufacturing capacity (CDC 2020, 3). A pandemic may be characterized by the absence of immunity as a virus has not circulated in the majority of humans, the distribution of illness, the severity of complications, and relatively high mortality rates. It goes without saying that any pandemic leads to “the burden on the health care system and, combined with concerns about the risk of ongoing transmission in the community, may increase rates of absenteeism and disruptions in the availability of critical products and services in health care and other sectors” (CDC 2020, 3). At the same time, the production and supply of vaccines increased during a pandemic require targeting decisions on the basis of the objectives and principles of the vaccination program, the severity and impact of a pandemic, and operational considerations.
According to the targeting decisions of previous pandemics, the vaccination process implies the first priority protection of:
- People who maintain national security and homeland;
- Individuals who provide care for diseased people;
- People who maintain critically essential community services;
- Community members who are at substantial risk of infection caused by their job;
- Individuals who are regarded as medically vulnerable to severe diseases, including children, pregnant women, and seniors (CDC 2020).
In addition, there should be no discrimination in the distribution of vaccines on the basis of race, ethnicity, education, and socioeconomic status.
In the present day, the pandemic caused by the worldwide spread of coronavirus forces the governmental agencies to face additional challenges related to the production and distribution of new vaccines. As a matter of fact, vaccines generally require long periods of research and testing before they will be available for the population (Corum et al. 2020). However, scientists currently undertake all efforts to produce an effective and safe pandemic coronavirus vaccine by next year (Corum et al. 2020). In general, at this stage, 50 vaccines are testing by researchers on humans in clinical trials, while almost 90 preclinical coronavirus vaccines are under investigation (Corum et al. 2020). Another challenge is closely connected with the transportation of vaccines as it should be kept “at arctic temperatures” (Gelles 2020). To be precise, the majority of Covid-19 vaccines that are currently under development need to be preserved at temperatures as low as minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 80 degrees Celsius) “from the moment they are bottled to the time they are ready to be injected into patients’ arms” (Gelles 2020, par. 3). However, in the United States, during this pandemic, targeting decisions became unprecedentedly central.
In the contrast to the principles of wide-scale vaccine distribution, some experts state that people who live in communities frequently made up of Hispanic and Black populations should be provided with coronavirus vaccines in the first instance as these communities are regarded as hardest-hit by the pandemic (Kolata 2020). According to JAMA’s original report, around 12% of patients with Covid-19 of the largest hospital of New York City require ventilation, while 88% of them died (Fox 2020). Seniors composed the majority of these patients due to declined immune function, that makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus (Irfan and Belluz 2020). According to the analysis of the most comprehensive study in the United States related to the outcomes of the disease, the average age of patients was 63 (Cha 2020). That is why seniors may be regarded as the most susceptible population to Covid-19.
At the same time, recent researches demonstrate the disproportionate morbidity and mortality rates among the Black population. Across the United States, Black people have died at a rate per 100,000 people, in comparison with 22.7 for Asian Americans, 22.9 for Latinos, and 20.7 for Whites (Pilkington 2020). Although Black seniors composed a substantial part of Black patients who were put on ventilation or died from Covid-19, comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes, that are typical for the Black population lead to the hospitalization of relatively young Black individuals as well.
From a personal perspective, the targeting of the population on the basis of race or ethnicity is partly incorrect as the reason for disproportionately high mortality rates in Black communities is determined by people’s occupation. Black people are exposed to a substantial risk of infection at work as they hold “a disproportionate share of retail, municipal, first responder and other jobs that interact directly with the public and have been deemed essential throughout the pandemic” (Higgins-Dunn et al. 2020). In addition, they are overrepresented in clinics and hospitals providing health care delivery for diseased people. That is why, according to the general principles of vaccine distribution during a pandemic, Black people have a right to receive vaccines on a first-priority basis along with vulnerable populations as they frequently maintain critically essential community services and provide health care.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2020. “Interim Updated Planning Guidance on: Allocating and Targeting Pandemic Influenza Vaccine during an Influenza Pandemic.” Web.
Cha, Ariana Eunjung. 2020. “In New York’s Largest Hospital System, Many Coronavirus Patients on Ventilators didn’t Make It.”The Washington Post, Web.
Corum, Jonathan, Sui-Lee Wee, and Carl Zimmer. 2020. “Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker.”The New York Times, Web.
Fox, Maggie. 2020. “About a Quarter of Covid-19 Patients Put on Ventilators in New York’s Largest Health System Died, Study Finds.”CNN Health, Web.
Gelles, David. 2020. “How to Ship a Vaccine at –80°C, and Other Obstacles in the Covid Fight.”The New York Times, Web.
Higgins-Dunn, Noah, Will Feuer, Berkeley Lovelace Jr., and Jasmine Kim. 2020. “Coronavirus Pandemic and George Floyd Protests Highlight Health Disparities for Black People.”CNBC, Web.
Irfan, Umair, and Julia Belluz. 2020. “Why Covid-19 is so Dangerous for Older Adults.”Vox, Web.
Kolata, Gina. 2020. “Will the Hardest-Hit Communities Get the Coronavirus Vaccine?”The New York Times, Web.
Pilkington, Ed. 2020. “Black Americans Dying of Covid-19 at Three Times the Rate of White People.”The Guardian, Web.