Who Should Get Pandemic Vaccine First? The Strong, The Weak, The Young Or The Elderly?

Public health experts are finding it hard to agree who should get the flu pandemic vaccine first? Should we protect the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and people who suffer from asthma, diabetes and weakened immune systems? Or should we focus on those who are most likely to recover?


It is unlikely an effective vaccine would be available for more than 10% or 20% of a nation's population during the first year of a pandemic. Therefore, immunizing everyone would be impossible.


According to some American researchers, led by Ezekiel Emanuel, National Institutes of Health (NIH), young people should be given priority over the elderly and everyone else. You can read their report in the journal Science.


If you don't vaccinate health staff first, I wonder how many would not turn up for work. Health workers are the most likely to be exposed to infection. How would their motivation be affected if they were not immediately given a vaccine?


Ezekiel Emanuel's report says "With limited vaccine supply, uncertainty over who will be at highest risk of infection and complications, and questions about which historic pandemic experience is most applicable, society faces a fundamental ethical dilemma. Who should get the vaccine first?"


The report states that throughout much of history the focus has usually been to try to save those who have the highest chance of recovering as this saves the most lives.


Ezekiel Emanuel and team believe priority should be given to those who have not yet experienced various stages of life, such as adulthood, middle and old age - they should be given the opportunity. They believe there is great value to being able to experience each stage of life, from childhood, young adulthood, then to go on and pursue a career and raise a family, and finally to grow old. It is always more tragic when a child loses his/her life because that person has not had the opportunity to experience life's milestones.


The NIH team sees the reason for giving children priority as an ethical one, rather than a way of saving the most lives.


Government departments and public health experts will need to have a plan in place. Personally, I cannot see how you could exclude health care professionals and support staff from the top of the list.


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