Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
When states decided to open vaccine eligibility more broadly to seniors, it bumped essential workers further down the vaccine line or forced them to compete with a new flood of people for shots, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Essential workers, who are disproportionately people of color, are at higher risk of infection than people who can more easily social distance.
- Many frontline workers will now wait longer for protection from the virus.
The other side: Older people are generally at highest risk of severe disease or death from the virus. And opening up eligibility was intended to speed up the pace of inoculations — a crucial endeavor, as new virus variants begin to circulate in the U.S.
Between the lines: The tradeoffs surrounding whether to vaccinate older Americans or essential workers first is yet another example of the tension between speed and equity.
- "If the obsession is over the number of people vaccinated ... we could end up vaccinating more people, while leaving those people at greatest risk exposed to ongoing rates of infection," Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told the Post.
- An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had initially recommended vaccinating people 75 and older and frontline essential workers in the second vaccine priority group, following health care workers and nursing home residents.
Go deeper: Teachers want the vaccine, but they'll have to wait