Costly delay

According to the DuPage County Health Department website, over 93% of the people who died of COVID-19 in the county were over 60 years old. Even if you don't count the deaths in long-term care facilities over 80% of those dying were seniors. DuPage residents in their 70s are 23 times more likely to die of COVID than residents in their 50s. Residents in their 80s are 200 times more likely to die of COVID than those in their 30s.

While the CDC recommends vaccinating essential workers first because they are exposed in the workplace, most of them are young and healthy and relatively few have died. Doesn't it make sense to protect those most at risk of dying first. If workers are vaccinated first it will probably delay the vaccination of seniors, most of whom don't work by at least three months. How many additional seniors will die as the result of that three months delay?

Jay Fisher

Naperville