Who should have priority to receive the Covid-19 vaccine?

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The race to get a vaccine against Covid-19 is not over yet.

And yet, the first steps of what seems like another competition have already begun:

.

Some countries, such as the US with its

program

or the EU itself, are already moving the tab to ensure a good number of doses, while the question of who should be vaccinated first flies in the air.

In the latest issue of the journal

, an international group of experts reflects on the ethical implications of this issue and proposes a model to

, they emphasize, the distribution of vaccines in a foreseeable scenario of shortage.

The proposals that have been made so far all have "weak points", underlines the text, signed by scientists from the Universities of Oxford, Princeton, Georgetown, Latin America of Social Sciences or Toronto, among others.

Because, although in many cases these plans have the vocation to comply with

, in reality they would not achieve that objective, he adds.

On the one hand, it has been proposed that vaccination be prioritized for health workers and people at high risk of becoming ill, such as those over 65 years of age, said, in a statement, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, researcher in matters of Medical Ethics and Policies of Health at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and main signatory of the text published in

.

On the other hand, organizations such as the WHO have also suggested that each country should receive doses proportional to its population.

But, for the signatories, from the ethical point of view, both proposals make water.

"The idea of ​​distributing vaccines on a population basis seems like a fair strategy," Emanuel says.

But, in reality, it may leave behind many severely affected by the pandemic, it continues.

In the proposal that these scientists advance, the first point - and also the most urgent - to assess the distribution has to be

in a given place.

In addition, the indirect consequences that such immunization could have on the health and health system of citizens, as well as the economic impact, must also be assessed.

"

, causing unemployment, economic recession and poverty. The economy and health are interconnected: worse economic conditions damage health as well as the worsening pandemic also damages the economy," say the researchers in the text.

The proposed plan - baptized as

-, proposes three phases of implementation.

Phase 1 aims to prevent premature deaths, as well as other direct and irreversible damage to health caused by the pandemic.

In a second phase, in addition to maintaining this objective, it is intended to act on the economic and social problems associated with the virus (resuming businesses and activities closed due to the pandemic will contribute to reducing poverty, the text underlines).

And thirdly, phase 3 has as a priority reducing community transmission of the pathogen.

To evaluate these points, the researchers propose specific measurement systems.

"Implementing each phase of the model requires

and the order in which they are received," the researchers emphasize.

The WHO plan, which begins by providing vaccines for 3% of the population of each country and later increases that percentage until at least all nations can immunize 20% of their citizens

.

What is truly equitable, he adds, is to respond to their different needs because, in reality, countries with similar population numbers are facing very different levels of deaths and economic devastation from the pandemic, they point out.

In their conclusions, the 19 signatory scientists underline that the plan is "the best materialization of ethical values ​​to limit harm, benefit the disadvantaged and recognize an equal interest in all people."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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