The Optimal Allocation of Covid-19 Vaccines

Babus, A.; Das, S.; Lee, S.

Covid-19 vaccine prioritization is key if the initial supply of the vaccine is limited. A reasonable policy will surely prioritize populations facing high risk of severe illness in high-exposure occupations. The challenge is deciding between high-risk populations in low-exposure occupations and those that are young and healthy but work in high-exposure occupations. We estimate occupation-based infection risks and use age-based infection fatality rates in a model to assign priorities over populations with different occupations and ages. Among others, we find that 50 year-old food-processing workers and 60 year-old financial advisors are equally prioritized. Our model suggests a vaccine distribution that emphasizes age-based mortality risk more than occupation-based exposure risk. Designating some occupations as essential does not affect the optimal vaccine allocation, unless a stay-at-home order is also in effect. Even with vaccines allocated optimally, 1.37% of the employed workforce is still expected to be infected with the virus until the vaccine becomes widely available, provided the vaccine is 50% effective and assuming a supply of 60mil doses.