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OPINION

Prioritizing Americans for COVID Vaccines

the congresswmoman wearing a face mask
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., age 31, has taken a COVID-19 vaccine. (Sipa Images via AP)

Mark Schulte By Monday, 04 January 2021 08:16 AM EST Current | Bio | Archive

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 31-year-old Democratic Congresswoman from a Bronx-Queens district, recently shared on Instagram a video of her inoculation with an FDA-approved COVID vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes death totals by age groups, and the results for her 25-to-34-cohort are (as of Dec. 30):

2,087 deaths   45,940,000 people   4.5 deaths per 100,000

In contrast to the congresswoman, Florida’s 42-year-old Republican Governor Ron DeSantis just announced that he would defer inoculation until the most vulnerable Americans, those of us 65 years of age and older, are treated.

The COVID totals for his 35-to-44 cohort are:

5,398 deaths   41,659,000 people   13.0 deaths per 100,000

Even more spectacularly encouraging is the epidemiology for the four youngest cohorts:

Age COVID Deaths Population Deaths per 100,000
Under 1 32 3,783,000 .86
1-4 19 15,794,000 .12
5-14 51 40,994,000 .12
15-24 483 42,688,000 1.1

Therefore, among the 190,858,000 Americans under 45 years of age, vaccinations should be administered first to: members of the armed forces; police, fire and medical workers; and individuals with underlying serious medical problems, including obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart and lung ailments, who, if infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are more likely to die.

This table has the vital SARS-CoV-2 statistics for the remaining five age cohorts, which represent 137,382,000 Americans:

Age COVID Deaths Population Deaths per 100,000
45-54 14,496 40,875,000 35.5
55-64 35,981 42,449,000 84.8
65-74 64,355 31,483,000 204.4
75-84 82,646 15,970,000 517.5
85 & Over 96,131 6,605,000 1,455.4

Obviously, vaccinations for Americans in these oldest cohorts should first be administered to everyone over 84 years of age, whose 1.5% fatality rate is 1,500 times the .001% rate for the 15-24 cohort.

Thereafter, the vaccines should be given to those Americans in the four other oldest groups, who are suffering from at least one serious co-morbidity.

At 70 years of age, I am, like Gov. DeSantis, not lined-up for vaccine. I am not overweight, have no COVID co-morbidities, do not smoke, drink or take any drugs, prescription or illegal, and I have not been tested for the coronavirus.

Moreover, since I was a pro basketball player in the early 1970s in Sweden, Israel and Switzerland, I have been conscientious about keeping myself in excellent physical shape, and my Medicare bills since 2015 have totaled, Baruch Hashem (Thank G-d), only several thousand dollars.

Therefore, the solid majority of Americans, who are, like Gov. DeSantis and me, in excellent health, and who are not essential workers, should forgo vaccination until our truly deserving fellow citizens receive these life-saving treatments.

Mark Schulte is a retired New York City schoolteacher and mathematician who has written extensively about science and the history of science. Read Mark Schulte's Report's — More Here.

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MarkSchulte
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 31-year-old Democratic Congresswoman from a Bronx-Queens district, recently shared on Instagram a video of her inoculation with an FDA-approved COVID vaccine.
vaccines
448
2021-16-04
Monday, 04 January 2021 08:16 AM
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