In crafting his strategy to deal with COVID-19, Joe Biden is relying on the advice of a doctor who would move the elderly towards the back of the line in the order of priority for receiving a vaccine as well as in benefiting from vital, life-saving medical equipment.
Emanuel has written that living too long is "a loss." Past what age does Emanuel consider living too long? "Seventy-five. That is all I want to live," Emanuel wrote in an article for The Atlantic.
Emanuel was the lead author of an article published on September 11, 2020 entitled "An ethical framework for global vaccine allocation." Emanuel embraced a so-called "Fair Priority Model" to achieve "Distributive justice" in deciding who should have priority in receiving a vaccine.
Emanuel's idea of "Distributive justice" would put people who have long life expectancies at the head of the line for a vaccine - in front of first responders, health care workers, and the elderly who are most at risk to die from the disease.
Regarding access to medical care and resources, Emanuel would give "Priority to patients likely to survive longest after treatment" - i.e., those patients with the longest life expectancies, not the elderly or patients with serious pre-existing conditions.
Incredibly, Emanuel cited "Italian guidelines that potentially assign a higher priority for intensive care access to younger patients with severe illness than to elderly patients" as a positive example to follow.
With doctors like Zeke Emanuel whispering in Biden's ear, the elderly and other individuals with serious underlying medical conditions have great reason to worry.
Friday, October 2, 2020
Elderly at the Back of the Line for COVID-19 Vaccine Under Biden Presidency?
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