World 1185053/453360632=2.6%
USA 229293/9007298=2.5%
KS 2109/193288=1.1%
Mo 4837/359022=1.3%
TX 24648/1512531=1.6%
The patient that received one of the first vaccines in the State of Alabama was reported to be 94 years old. I thank him for his service to this country and the world. But he shouldn’t have received the vaccine ahead of others.(1)
As a retired Emergency Department physician, I have to say that this is the stupidest idea and worst triage I could imagine. And it is said to be in agreement with CDC recommendations.
Triage for an epidemic should go something like this.
- Those injured, ill or at risk, in order from most critical to least critical but a good candidate to survive. Implying a result that is a productive member of society.
- The highest and most likely to infect the largest portion of the population.
- Critical infrastructure such as healthcare workers, police and fire/rescue (a subset of #1 and #2).
- The most susceptible to a spreading epidemic.
Sorry, but this patient does not meet any of these criteria.
- He is least likely to survive an infection.
- He is least likely to infect the largest portion of the population.
- He is not critical infrastructure, nor productive to society at large.
- He is susceptible to becoming infected. He can be masked, anti-socially distanced and have his hands washed to prevent infection.
The problem with #4 is that we still do not know who or how the highly susceptible are susceptible. Persons living in a household that have an infected clinically ill patient, persons exposed to known cases of COVID-19 infected persons and those not following masking, antisocial distancing, and strict hand washing don’t always succumb.
In this situation, the Alabama State Health Department and the CDC are guilty of squandering away the opportunity to effectively combat The Great Coronavirus Epidemic of 2020. This is just plain malfeasance (to use a word I learned from my favorite TV character, Sheriff’s Deputy Barney Fife.(2))
From your Grumpy Uncle Dave.
- WWII POW gets Birmingham’s first COVID-19 vaccine. Alexandria Hein. Foxnews.com. 12/16/2020. Retrieved 12/16/2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/health/wwii-pow-gets-birminghams-first-covid-19-vaccine
- Barney Runs for Sheriff. The Andy Griffith Show Wiki contributors. Retrieved 12/16/2020 from https://mayberry.fandom.com/wiki/Barney_Runs_for_Sheriff