By Dr. Richard E. Besser and Dr. Julie Morita, USA Today, February 2, 2021
In the rush to get as many people as possible vaccinated against COVID-19, the United States has become obsessed with numbers. How many doses have been distributed? How many people can be inoculated in President Joe Biden’s first 100 days? Is 1 million doses a day too modest, and is 1.5 million too bold? What percentage of people need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity?
Yes, we should work to get shots in as many arms as possible, but we must start by getting shots in the right arms.
As two people who have worked in public health for decades — including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and have been involved in vaccine distribution strategies at the federal, state and local level, we’re concerned that the most important question of all is one being left out our national conversation: Is America’s vaccination effort reaching all of those who need to be vaccinated now? From what we have seen, the answer is no.
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