The whole concept of fairness is something humanity struggles with. For many people, “fair,” means “what’s best for me.” We say that these people have a sense of entitlement, and our sense of fair play makes us angry at them.
In general, our concept of what is fair is based on need, opportunity, and consequences. If some service or substance is being distributed, we check to see whether everyone’s need is the same and if the consequences of not getting it are equal. If they are, then we make sure everyone has the same opportunity to achieve success. In cases where there is a head-to-head tie, we depend on random numbers. Recently a provincial legislature seat in a Labrador election was a perfect tie. It was decided on a coin toss.
COVID Vaccines
At the beginning, who got the first shots was a slam dunk. People in retirement homes were the highest risk for getting the disease, and the result was most likely fatal. So they got first dibs and no one complained. Likewise medical personnel working with COVID patients. It would be blatant stupidity not to protect those who were protecting us.
When it came to expanding the rollout, the same age conditions applied, and all governments started with the oldest people, with the plan to just work down. It seemed fair at the time.
Reality Steps In
However, numbers of cases continued to rise and vaccinations weren’t coming fast enough. Instead of worrying about fairness to any given individual, governments realized that they had to start looking at the distribution most effective for the whole society.
By this time they were beginning to get enough scientific data to rationalize their choices, and they started to change their plans. All they really did was tilt their definition of “fair” slightly towards the “need” parameter. Conveniently, those who needed the shots the most were those most likely to catch and pass on the disease, so giving front line workers and residents of hot spots preference did not raise a whole lot of pushback. After all, they’d already made that decision when they sent added resources to First Nations reserves, where living conditions made contagion more likely and results worse.
The Basic Premise
Thus our new definition of where resources should be allotted is skewed towards those most likely to catch the disease and those most likely to pass it on. This fits with our sense of what is morally correct, and at the same time provides the best chance of reducing the spread of the disease, so everybody is happy, right?
Not So Fast
So far, I’ve been talking about our province, state or country. What about the rest of the world? Governments who want to keep the favour of their voters tend to do what is seen to be best for their own populations. But as I discussed two weeks ago, our next threat is going to come from a super-virus variant that renders the present vaccines useless. And simply because of the opportunities for mutation, the most likely incubator for that disease will be the country with the most cases. Therefore, it is in our own best interest to see that every person in the world gets vaccinated, not just our fellow citizens.
Patent Rights
And, taking that idea one step further, we run smack into this week’s news. The American government (bless them) have suggested that we set aside the intellectual rights protection on vaccines, as a tool to spur higher production in more countries.
And if the companies who are making billions of dollars on their vaccine sales right now dare to complain, maybe it will finally bring to the attention of everyone what a bad idea it is to have our medical system dominated by the profit motive.
Yes, I say “our system” because we have a fair amount of that in Canada as well. Nothing about the Ontario government’s failure to deal with the epidemic has made me more angry than discovering that, while they have shut down restaurants, gyms, and other small businesses that help people cope with the situation, they have NEVER shut down the Amazon warehouse, which has been the source of SEVERAL OUTBREAKS. Sorry about the shouting, but I am STEAMED!
Second on my “nasty” list is Jason Kenney’s preferential treatment of Alberta’s meat packing plants, likewise the source of lots of problems and lots of donations to the Conservative Party.
The Bottom Line
Once again, careful thought tells us that doing the right thing turns out to be the right thing to do. We’re all in this together, and the solutions are the responsibility of all of us.