Public perspectives on who should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine

Editor's Note

In this study from the University of Denver and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, respondents to two surveys agreed with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s prioritization framework for COVID-19 vaccination.

Of 4,735 respondents (2,730 to a Gallup survey and 2,005 to a COVID Collaborative survey):

• 93.6% of Gallup and 80.0% of COVID Collaborative respondents listed healthcare workers and 78.6% of Gallup and 72.9% of COVID Collaborative respondents listed adults of any age with serious comorbid conditions among their four highest priority groups.
• 74.2% of Gallup and 84.9% of COVID Collaborative respondents agreed with prioritizing Black, Hispanic, Native American, and other communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
• 92.5% of COVID Collaborative respondents were willing to be preceded in line by teachers and childcare workers, and 85.9% by grocery workers.
• Older respondents in both surveys were significantly less likely than younger respondents to prioritize healthy adults aged 65 years and older among their four highest priority groups.
• COVID Collaborative respondents believed the four most important considerations for prioritization were preventing COVID-19 spread (78.4%), preventing the most deaths (71.2%), preventing long-term complications (68.9%), and protecting frontline workers (63.8%).

The findings provide reason for caution about vaccine distribution plans that prioritize healthy older adults without including those younger with preexisting conditions that aim to prevent the most deaths or that give no priority to frontline workers or disproportionately affected communities, the authors say.