Race and ethnicity could be the deciding factors in determining that essential workers, rather than people with serious illnesses or the elderly, will be second in line for vaccination for the novel coronavirus.

Defenders of this position say COVID-19 harms a higher percentage of racial and ethnic minorities, and so they should be prioritized by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the body within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention charged with constructing a plan for allocating the vaccine. The committee is set to unveil its recommendations Tuesday.