A professor of ethics at the University of Pennsylvania sparked a heated debate by suggesting that essential workers should get the coronavirus vaccine ahead of frail older people because the workers are likely minorities.
“Older populations are whiter,” Harald Schmidt told the New York Times. “Society is structured in such a way that they can live longer. Rather than giving extra health benefits to those who already had more, we can level the playing field a bit. “
The Centers for Disease Control should use their own “social vulnerability index” to decide how to protect older people who are more at risk, Schmidt said. The index uses measures from the census such as poverty, unemployment, disability, housing status, and education to determine which communities are most likely to feel the impact of a public health emergency. At least 18 states plan to use the index, he told The Times.
At least 221,000 of those who died from COVID-19 were over the age of 65, or about 80 percent of the total number of deaths through Wednesday, according to data from the CDC. Those over the age of 85 are 630 times more likely to die from the virus than those aged 18 to 29.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has said he believes that priority should be given to people 70 and older living with children or grandchildren, the Daily Mail reported.
Nursing homes in New York are expected to receive vaccines from Monday.
Schmidt’s comments drew criticism from those who pointed out that nursing home residents cannot distance themselves socially and can be of all ages.
“It’s okay to call first to vaccinate essential and frontline workers,” said commentator Brenda Tippin, who identifies himself as a biologist. “But you had to elaborate and identify the older population as ‘whiter’ and point out that they had more privileged lives and that it is time to create a level playing field. Unforgivable! “
Others argued that seniors who have been isolated for months “literally die of loneliness,” and that he claimed that the elderly are “not only non-essential; they are actually quite expendable.”
His Twitter entries were filled with memes saying things like “Old Live Matter,” and screenshots showing a graph showing white men with the shortest life expectancy, at 76.71 years.
“I don’t understand how you can be viewed as a professor of ethics,” a user has placed with the Portia Smith handle. “Your worldview is anything but. Terrible. “