Coronavirus: The Wealthy to the Front of the Line for Vaccines?

The eye-catching headline in this Los Angeles Times (Dec 18) article is about one doctor being approached with a $25,000 donation/bribe offer to get the vaccine. The individuals offering those types of bribes are willing to jump ahead of doctors, nurses, and the elderly in nursing homes. I would assume most of us don't look kindly on that type of behavior. In fact, a wealthy person making such bribes has to think about their reputation. I am sure that people jumping the line that far in advance will eventually get their names leaked to the public. 

Yet, being wealthy will still have advantages when it comes to getting the vaccine: 

Some wealthy patients may get the shots sooner than the average person because they’re members of exclusive healthcare groups that offer the kind of high-quality, primary care most Americans can’t afford.

Those patients are already on waiting lists with concierge doctors who charge as much as $25,000 a year for 24-hour access to top-notch care, which includes working to get their clients vaccinated as soon as it’s available.

Concierge practices are fielding frantic, repeated phone calls from well-heeled clients and their assistants. They’re busy assembling lengthy patient files with medical histories and potential COVID-19 risks.

And they’re snapping up expensive, ultra-low temperature freezers, which are in short supply, to store the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which must be kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Now the goal by the end of 2020 was to get 20 million people vaccinated. We fell well short of that target. That was obviously a stretch target and people shouldn't be attacking the Trump Administration for failing to reach a stretch target.  

Yet, the inability to get anywhere close to 20 million people vaccinated by the end of 2020 points out to the fact that there are going to be unexpected glitches that pop up when it comes to vaccinating the US population. The advantage of being wealthy will show up after everyone is given the opportunity to get the vaccine. As can be seen in the above quote, concierge doctors are already making sure they're properly set up to provide the vaccine to their clients. They're making sure that the glitches are being removed from their systems. What is the probability that they're planning far better than other locations that will be vaccinating the US population? Likely very high.