Not sure if centralized government-run vaccination management is working very well … 💉

Planned economies often fail, because government often fails to take in market signals and adequately compensate market players to preform to their maximum output. I fear the same is happening with the COVID-19 vaccine — without price and demand signals, vaccines are being wasted and not distributed in a timely fashion to the public, in convenient locations close to home.

Imagine if the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed in a hands-off, no government interaction process. No priority groups. The vaccine was available for whoever wanted it, willing to pay the price to get it. Doctors offices and pharmacies could give it out to anyone that showed up in line and paid a price, possibly a few hundred or thousand dollars for expedited service. Rather then the current system, where the government is deciding who gets the vaccine and who doesn’t from distant, centralized distribution facilities, often far away from home. The current system is sluggish and badly run, because it’s run by the government, rather then individual healthcare providers and pharmacies obtaining their own vaccination supply through their ordinary channels.

It is true that the wealthy probably would get vaccinated first under a free-market system. But is that a bad thing? A shot in the arm is a shot in the arm, and it’s helping to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. If people are willing to pay a lot of money to get vaccinated first, then they will encourage fast uptake of the vaccine. Even under the current government-run system, wealthier people are paying hundreds of dollars to travel to government-run clinics to get their vaccine before their peers. It would be a lot more convenient for people if those who wanted to go first, just paid a higher rate — rather then traveling a long distance for a government clinic.

It’s not to say that the poor should not be vaccinated. Certainly, there should be clinics for the poor, and the government should purchase vaccines for them. If people are in a rush, and want to wait in line rather then pay extra, then that should be an option. Employers should provide vaccines for their workers at workplace, to provide a convenient way to get them in a timely way. But those in a rush to get a vaccine because of their health or else-wise, should be able to go to their doctor, maybe pay a little extra to ensure expedited delivery of the vaccine.