The thought which may bothering everyone from the doctors to the commoners across the world who knows well that the vaccine providers may try to make a mint treating the millionaires and billionaires when they try to break the queue for vaccination . And it might not be such a hypothetical, say a dozen medical veterans and other close observers of the process, who worry about everything from highly paid physicians contorting their moral compasses to the rich cashing in on their political and personal connections.
The wrath of the corona virus has not been felt equally across world. Average and and low-income people have been ravaged by its health and economic destruction, while the wealthy and well-connected have decamped to vacation homes, enjoyed superior access to testing and experimental treatments, and watched their net worth skyrocket. So if the vaccination process — the path out of the pandemic — is equally riddled with inequities, it would only fit a pattern and confirm something we have long known to be true: The ultra-rich have much, much better health care.
Just how easy it will be for the wealthy to cut in line depends on how exactly the line is queued, and those details remain vague even to the physicians who are being hounded with phone calls. That vagueness means the precise playbook for how anyone might circumvent the rules remains to be written.
Few close observers expect widespread abuse in metros or elsewhere, but there is a shared concern among experts that there will be at least isolated attempts to get the vaccine in advance due to the possible life-or-death payoffs of obtaining it.
India has now more millionaires and billionaires than before, spells out fear that they may try hijack the normal process of vaccination. Govt watchdogs should not be lenient if it finds out that doctors or patients have flouted protocols.
Doctor should be warned that their medical license could be revoked if they ignored the prioritization guidelines or might be socially shame any doctors or patients who cut in line.
Govt also need to monitor that behaviour at the local level ... and make sure that personal involved in the public vaccination process are not passing a few vials over to their cousin or aunt or uncle or, God forbid, making a buck or two on the backs of vaccine that should be distributed to someone who is at higher risk or higher need.
There are three main avenues for abuse. One is through the wealthy use of high-end physicians who claim to offer better access to medical care in exchange for hefty fees. It is possible they will face substantial pressure from demanding clients. Another set of concerns revolves around the personal networks of high-powered executives, who may have ties to biotech companies, hospital boards, governments, or other places to favor trade. And a final worry is that the wealthy follow the rules as written — but work to interpret the rules in a more favourable fashion.
Doctors should make sure that almost all of their patients plan to abide by state and federal guidance and would not seek to be vaccinated ahead of their turn. And they bristle at any suggestion that they would enable those clients if asked: Even if few are concierge doctors, but doctors nonetheless, and bound by medical ethics.
But the incentive — and, sometimes, the expectation from clients — is there, and even a few isolated incidents could compromise public trust in the fairness of the vaccination process. Some private conversations at least illustrate the demand for early access.
There are incidents where even people asking questions to doctors such as : What kind of illness can you use for me to enable me to get on the higher-priority list?
Many hospitals are now in race for their own stash of doses. To boost their chances of being approved, some of those have already purchased or are pursuing ultra-cold freezers to help store the vials. But even most of those practices do not expect to receive vials of vaccine until several months from now. There is not dearth of people who can pay more will have certain expectations that their doctor would be able to procure some of these vaccines when, in fact, they cannot.
Exploiting connections for favours
Medical insiders say it is not what happens at these specialty practices that should scare us, but what happens at traditional medical facilities. That is because they know that govt cannot monitor each and every dose to make sure that they reach the right person.
The worry from these people is that there will be leaks of drugs — that is, instances when vaccine vials somehow go missing or unaccounted for and end up being part of the favor trade. Corruption in the health care system is perturbed by the amount of discretion that hospitals or doctors offices will have after the vaccine arrives at their facilities. Govt need to safeguard that governs how each facility makes its decisions.Many wealthy people may use their influence to ask for a favour. So we really need to rely on systems in place that do not allow for one person to make that kind of decision.
Experts fear that affluent could seek favors or be solicited by their contacts. There is also the concern that powerful executives may have connections to biotech companies that they may try to call upon. As we all know that the unwritten rule of being wealthy is that the written rules do not apply to them. There is possibility that essential workers could strike deals to sell their spots to the rich if identity checks are not as rigorous in distribution lines as they should be.
Will we really know if a vaccine line-jumping is happening
For now, all these concerns described above remain hypothetical. They are what could happen. The problem at large is that we might not even know if abuse does occur.
There is little doubt that the backlash to any incident would be fierce. One need look no further than the public anger toward institutions that have fumbled the vaccine rollout. Many health workers across the world have reported that some wealthy people have started to approach about whether it would be possible to gain private access to the vaccine — outside of government distribution — but declined to make a run for it because they were skittish about the public relations blowback if they were to get caught. That fear of a bad headline could be a powerful force in keeping the system honest in any place or industry where the wealthy and well-connected might seek an advantage.
Irrespective of our social status and our impact on society, one should remember that there is something really special about having rules and there is something beautiful about that.