Vaccine Distribution Shouldn’t Be Fair

As an increasing body of evidence suggests America’s new anti-Covid vaccines are both efficacious and safe, the question of how to distribute those vaccines assumes greater importance. One poll suggests that Americans think health-care workers, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems should receive vaccines very early. But what to do after that?

There is an uncomfortable truth here: Most of the best distribution methods are blatantly unfair. In this context, however, fairness is overrated. Priority should be given to methods that will save more lives and bring back the economy more rapidly.