When a vaccine for COVID-19 has been successfully engineered, the next hurdle will be its distribution. Vaccines will be scarce, and deciding who receives them will be a difficult but necessary decision.
Dr. Emanuel and others write in this article that the best approach is by using the Fair Priority Model. This model identifies the different types of harms caused by COVID-19 and seeks to relieve more urgent and irreversible harm earlier, and less urgent, reversible harm later, by working in stages.
The Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus has also released a draft of their preliminary framework for the distribution of the vaccine. This in-depth discussion of the distribution of the vaccine pulls lessons from previous outbreaks and epidemics to inform best practices going forward during this pandemic. Read the draft here.