The perils of perfection

This week's top headlines: Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate after high turnout among Black voters clinched victories for their candidates in two runoff elections in Georgia, with Raphael Warnock becoming the first Black senator in the state's history. The Pentagon got a diversity watchdog as part of new defense legislation that's likely to heighten focus on efforts to combat extremist behavior within the U.S. military. Germany's cabinet agreed that companies should have at least one woman on their management boards. It's a breakthrough for gender-equality, but Europe's biggest economy still has among the most male-dominated corporate suites in the developed world. Nothing about the coronavirus disease has been fair. But in a bid to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine equitably, leaders around the world might have slowed down the pace of delivery and put minorities, poor communities and other hard-hit groups in more danger. Despite drug manufacturers racing to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses across the globe, many remain unused. It's a stunning bottleneck that stems, in part, from stringent rules governing who gets it first. Take the U.S. Over 70% of doses distributed to states remain unused. In the interest of fairness, most states reserved the first shots exclusively for health-care workers tirelessly treating Covid-19 patients. Some states -- like New York -- even set fines for people who jump in line to get the vaccine. In theory, this makes complete sense. We all know health-care workers deserve to get the shots first. But in actuality, strict exclusivity is adding to the gridlock. In New York, for instance, some 30% of health-care workers offered the vaccine have turned it down. Hospitals are constrained from giving those doses to other groups, which leads not only to waste, but also slows the larger inoculation drive. Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg In Germany, the health ministry acknowledged that prioritizing nursing homes has led to delays. "But we intentionally prioritized the most vulnerable groups," one spokesperson told the New York Times. By contrast, Israel has emerged as the standout nation in vaccine delivery, inoculating 15 per every 100 people compared to around 1.5 in the U.S. One reason is because Israel replaced the notion of exclusivity with priority. That means health-care workers get priority, but if there happens to be excess doses, hospitals are encouraged to provide them to anyone. That includes a random pizza delivery guy on the street, says Michael Botta, a health economist and co-founder of health-care start-up Sesame. "I worry that by trying to be too perfect here, we're slowing the process," Botta says. "If you're a lower-income American, your exposure and risks are higher and you can get Covid from anyone. So we need to do whatever it takes to lower the overall death rate." Some U.S. states are beginning to move onto other priority groups. South Carolina, for instance, warned health-care workers they'd lose their place in line if they don't get their shots, and California is set to give providers more flexibility to dispense shots to people beyond those on the priority list. Of course, stories are already emerging around the rich and powerful jumping the line. It's an expected outcome made more unsettling by how disproportionately worse the virus hit minorities and poor communities. But Botta says that looking through the lens of behavioral economics, there's a case to be made that as long as rich people don't crowd out others, a small number of tales of powerful people crawling through broken glass to get the Covid-19 shot could actually make the vaccine drive more successful. Because an air of desirability could boost vaccination rates among minorities and lower-income communities who have historically been more reticent to take them. "I want more people to care about getting a vaccine than a Playstation," Botta says. Follow Us Get the newsletter By the Numbers Wealth held by White households in the U.S. rose to $98.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2020. That amounts to 84.6% of the total, the biggest share in three years. By contrast, the portion of overall wealth held by Black Americans fell to 3.8% -- down from 4.4% two years earlier -- while for Hispanic Americans it dropped to 2.1%.   Before You Go Tens of thousands of mutual aid networks and projects emerged around the world in 2020. They've long been a tool for marginalized groups, as this visual history shows. Writing off large chunks of the U.S.'s $1.7 trillion in student debt could become government policy in a few weeks. A big write-off might stimulate the economy, or reward those who don't need help. Walking canes for the visually impaired can be more than 'just a stick.' London-based start-up WeWalk is equipping them with GPS, taxi booking and voice assistant, and it has Microsoft Corp's backing.   Like getting the Bloomberg Equality newsletter? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more.   You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Equality newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022