A model for a just COVID-19 vaccination program

The pandemic exposed racial injustice in healthcare — a view on why vaccine distribution must not. Almost a year into the pandemic presumably effective vaccines seem to have been found, and now the world is moving onto its next challenge: finding a way to equally distribute these jabs, without perpetuating the structural issues most societies already face. In Nautilus, Melanie Moses and Kathy Powers contemplate why a "truly effective vaccination program must protect the most vulnerable communities." "Distrust of a biased medical system will cause communities of color who are most at risk for COVID-19 to be least likely to choose to be vaccinated. Many in communities of color view the opportunity for vaccination as ploy for further unethical, unconsented medical experimentation, particularly if they are offered it first. The problem is exacerbated by political intervention in treatment authorizations, drug approvals and vaccine programs that are dubbed 'warp speed.' The complexity of harms that lead to disproportionate exposure rates, infection rates, and death also limit social trust in new vaccines that might mitigate these risks in the future."