If you had a limited supply of what is, for many people, a life-saving vaccine, how would you go about distributing it? Would you pick the people most susceptible to dying of that virus, or would you pick some arbitrary, racist standard? When it comes to coronavirus booster vaccine eligibility, Vermont did the latter.
Vermonters are eligible for a Pfizer booster shot if they got their second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago, depending on their background. Assuming they’re not deemed high-risk by the state or working a job deemed essential by the government, Vermont’s general population is eligible for the vaccine booster only if they are 65 or older — unless they’re either not white or living with someone who is not white. The latter groups of people are eligible for the vaccine booster if they are 18 years old or older, according to the Vermont Department of Public Health.
