Why Our Elderly Should be Among the First to Receive the Covid Vaccine

CDC guidelines indicate that people over 75 years of age in Phase 1 B and the people between the ages of 65 to 74 in Phase 1 C should be among the first to receive the covid-19 vaccination. You can see the guidelines here. Why has this been an established guideline? These individuals are considered at greatest risk for infection, hospitalization, becoming severely ill, and dying.

However there is an age-old dilemma that seems to pit the young versus the old. People wonder whether vaccinating an elderly individual is a wise use of our currently limited resources. The argument is made that a young person should be among the first to receive the vaccine since life expectancy is significantly greater and since that individual can potentially have a greater ability to contribute to society over a longer period of time.

First of all, we must not neglect respect for our elders. They have been blessed with long life. Therefore they have been blessed with the wisdom that comes only with years of experience on this planet. We would be wise to do our best to appreciate their wisdom if not practical knowledge because guess what: they have survived pandemics and epidemics before. This is not their first rodeo.

Secondly, these individuals are loved by family and friends. The vaccine is not given according to who can contribute more to society. That is immoral and wrong. The vaccine is given according to risk of infection.

And thirdly, let us remember that while the supply of vaccine is currently limited at the time of this writing, it will not remain that way for very long.

As can be seen in Phase 1A, Healthcare workers and people in long term care facilities are among the very first for vaccine eligibility. It makes sense that the healthcare professional should be among the first because they are our heros on the frontline caring for people who have Covid. With the job comes a high likelihood of contact with patients and a high potential of exposure and infection.

But what about the people in long term care facilities? The staff are healthcare professionals, but why vaccinate the residents? Putting respect for elders aside for a moment, we can see from this microcosm that vaccinating the residents is actually in the best interest of the healthcare professionals providing care for these individuals. Why?

An elderly individual is known to have a less robust immune system in the medical community. There are exceptions to this statement of course. However on average, an elderly individual seems to be more susceptible to infection; especially if that individual has comorbidities (other chronic medical problems like Type 2 Diabetes or obesity that might make an infection have a more severe outcome).

This was evident as we began to see entire facilities have a breakout of Covid cases. But how do you think Covid got introduced into those facilities? It did not spawn on its own in separate facilities across the country. Family members come during visiting hours and the healthcare professionals go out into society. My point here is that younger people had been unwittingly exposed to the virus and likely brought it to the long term care facility. The young person might have had the sniffles or even felt they may have had the flu, but the true impact of the covid virus was never clearly apparent until it was introduced to a population of individuals with weaker immune systems.

Therefore an elderly person is more likely to be infected. So if one resident catches Covid, it is very easy for the next resident to catch Covid from the first person; and the next one, and the next one, until all members of a facility have been infected. In this scenario, the staff caring for these individuals would now be at increased risk of catching Covid because they are now caring for a population of individuals with the same infection rather than just one or two individuals.

So it would actually be better for the healthcare professionals if their elderly patients were vaccinated first because that would have the greatest ability to mitigate the spread of disease among the patients and therefore among the staff. As can be seen here, a person with a strong immune system can be overwhelmed if constantly bombarded by exposure.

We’ve all seen movies or television shows where an extremely fortified castle is finally overwhelmed by the shear number of attackers doing everything they possibly can to breach the walls and the gates in order to take control. What invariably happens? Do the attackers have to tear down the whole wall completely before invading and wreaking havoc within? No.

They need only to create an opening. Some get killed right away because the defenders can keep up. However the shear numbers of people pouring through that breach in defense simply overwhelm the initial attempt by the defenders to keep out foreign invaders.

Your immune system functions in a similar manner. It can keep up with defenses if the number of foreign invaders is limited at any given time. However if these invaders were to suddenly multiply and exceed the ability of your defenses to keep them in check, then this can result in illness. This is partly the reason why we should practice social distancing, wearing masks, and personal hygiene by washing hands frequently.

Now lets come back to our long term care facility and open it up to visitors. After all, these individuals are loved and have family that want to visit. Also, seriously ill individuals would have to be transferred to hospitals in the community. And finally, the healthcare staff want to go home to their families and possibly pick something up on the way when their shift ends.

Just with these three scenarios, we can see how the covid virus can easily get out of hand if we do nothing to protect our elder loved ones first.

The covid vaccine is certainly limited at this point. But it will not remain that way for very long.

Companies are currently ramping up production just as they did with hand sanitizers and face masks. Soon there will be more than enough to go around. Until then, we have to be strategic with the resources currently available to us.

We are all human beings living life on this planet. We all have a story that needs to unfold and shared with others. Tragedy strikes not because we are living amidst a pandemic and are required to be more mindful of an invisible enemy. Tragedy strikes each and every time the covid virus takes a life because it cut that story short.