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Younger people who work and sustain the economy should get vaccinated against coronary heart disease before the elderly.
This is a controversial topic that is currently being discussed in several European countries.
– If we get a vaccine that is effective in the elderly, I personally believe that it is they and other risk groups who should be vaccinated first, says Agnes Wold, professor of clinical bacteriology.
At the end of May, the Government commissioned the Swedish Public Health Agency to draw up a national operational plan for future vaccination against COVID-19.
The plan establishes that priority should be given to risk groups, care personnel and the elderly, before vaccination of the entire population is relevant from 18 years of age.
This is because risk groups above groups are considered to have a higher risk of severe illness and death in COVID-19 compared to younger and fundamentally healthy individuals.
I should vaccinate the youngest
Since then, several candidate vaccines have been developed and Sweden has entered into various agreements to ensure access.
But at the same time that regions of Sweden are preparing for a possible delivery of vaccines in January this year, a controversial discussion is taking place in Europe.
Photo: Carolina Byrmo
Several candidate vaccines are being prepared.
It is about vaccinating the youngest first, since they are able to work and consume more, which contributes to a better economy, over the elderly who still will not be able to move freely, since they still do not know how effective a new vaccine is. it is.
Reduction of the probability of spreading the infection.
According to the German professor and epidemiologist Timo Ulrichs, who works at the University of Akkon in Berlin, there is another aspect that makes it necessary to review whether it is advisable to start vaccinating the very young:
– If you start with the youngest, that is, people who have a greater potential to spread the virus even more if they become infected, you have theoretically reduced the probability of spreading the infection, than if you start with the oldest, he says in an interview with the Deutschlandfunk radio channel. Culture.
According to Ulrichs, younger people who don’t follow the rules spread the virus faster to others in the community than older people, who, for example, live in nursing homes and therefore have few contacts.
By starting with the very young, you have a good chance of stopping all the super-spreaders in society, he says.
Reduce super diffusers
Ulrichs also highlights a study by researchers from the US, who ran different calculation models on how best to use vaccines.
According to them, it is worth vaccinating young people first, ensuring that the vaccine is highly effective, something that both the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the modern biotech company have announced that they have their vaccine candidates.
This is because potential young super-spreaders are reduced and, indirectly, older ones are better protected.
However, the researchers believe that if only a small part of the vaccine can be distributed initially, and therefore only a small proportion of the population can be vaccinated, then it is better to start with those who are most vulnerable.
“Older people who end up in the hospital”
The issue is also being discussed politically in the UK, which is in its second country shutdown.
British media recently reported that several politicians within the ruling Conservative party on an internal WhatsApp group have suggested that young people and people of working age should be able to get vaccinated after care staff, also with arguments to get the economy back on track.
However, the British government does not appear to be particularly interested in the proposal. Nadine Dorries, Minister of Mental Illness, Suicide Prevention and the Sick, says that “it is the elderly who end up in the hospital.”
Wold: Seniors must go first
But according to Agnes Wold, a professor of clinical bacteriology at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg, the elderly remain a top priority group.
– First of all, we do not yet have a vaccine, and even less do we know about the efficacy of different vaccines in different age groups. Older people often respond worse to vaccines, but if we assume that we get a vaccine that is effective in older people, I personally believe that it is the elderly and other risk groups who should be vaccinated first, he says and continues:
– That is, it is those who have the greatest benefit from a vaccine who should receive it, the benefit for other people, in the form of herd immunity, is second. And since nothing is 100 percent risk-free, the person getting vaccinated must have a benefit that outweighs the risk. And then it is those who are most at risk of severe and fatal covid that should be prioritized, in my opinion.
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