The January-February 2021 issue of The Atlantic offers
a cover story “The Pandemic Endgame”, with two essays.
On p. 38, Jordan Kisner describes “The Committee in
Life and Death”. He draws a parallel
between triage when patients pile up in hospitals (now in California) and
decisions as to who should get the vaccine first.
Seriously, I understand that vaccinating long-term
care residents first will cut the hospitalizations and deaths more rapidly and
help flatten the curve again. But there
may be more social justice in vaccinating essential workers who must interact
with consumers, especially those who must enter homes and apartments to do
emergency repairs. They should be near
the top of the list, as well as first responders.
On p. 48m Ed Yong describes “The COVID-19 Manhattan
Project” with the record speed development of vaccines. The mRNA paradigm helps for rapid
development, but all but two of the vaccines are conventional.
Embed of chart showing how mRNA vaccines work, from Wikipedia, click for attribution
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