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Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kappes, A; Zohny, H; Savulescu, J; Singh, I; Sinnott-Armstrong, W; Wilkinson, D
Published in: BMJ open
November 2022

This study aimed to assess US/UK adults' attitudes towards COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine allocation.Online survey including US and UK adults, sampled to be representative for sex, age, race, household income and employment. A total of 2580 participated (women=1289, age range=18 to 85 years, Black American=114, BAME=138).Participants were asked to allocate ventilators or vaccines in scenarios involving individuals or groups with different medical risk and additional risk factors.Participant race did not impact vaccine or ventilator allocation decisions in the USA, but did impact ventilator allocation attitudes in the UK (F(4,602)=6.95, p<0.001). When a racial minority or white patient had identical chances of survival, 14.8% allocated a ventilator to the minority patient (UK BAME participants: 24.4%) and 68.9% chose to toss a coin. When the racial minority patient had a 10% lower chance of survival, 12.4% participants allocated them the ventilator (UK BAME participants: 22.1%). For patients with identical risk of severe COVID-19, 43.6% allocated a vaccine to a minority patient, 7.2% chose a white patient and 49.2% chose a coin toss. When the racial minority patient had a 10% lower risk of severe COVID-19, 23.7% participants allocated the vaccine to the minority patient. Similar results were seen for obesity or male sex as additional risk factors. In both countries, responses on the Modern Racism Scale were strongly associated with attitudes toward race-based ventilator and vaccine allocations (p<0.0001).Although living in countries with high racial inequality during a pandemic, most US and UK adults in our survey allocated ventilators and vaccines preferentially to those with the highest chance of survival or highest chance of severe illness. Race of recipient led to vaccine prioritisation in cases where risk of illness was similar.

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Published In

BMJ open

DOI

EISSN

2044-6055

ISSN

2044-6055

Publication Date

November 2022

Volume

12

Issue

11

Start / End Page

e062561

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Ventilators, Mechanical
  • Vaccines
  • United Kingdom
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • COVID-19
  • Black or African American
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Kappes, A., Zohny, H., Savulescu, J., Singh, I., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., & Wilkinson, D. (2022). Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution. BMJ Open, 12(11), e062561. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062561
Kappes, Andreas, Hazem Zohny, Julian Savulescu, Ilina Singh, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Dominic Wilkinson. “Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution.BMJ Open 12, no. 11 (November 2022): e062561. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062561.
Kappes A, Zohny H, Savulescu J, Singh I, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Wilkinson D. Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution. BMJ open. 2022 Nov;12(11):e062561.
Kappes, Andreas, et al. “Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution.BMJ Open, vol. 12, no. 11, Nov. 2022, p. e062561. Epmc, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062561.
Kappes A, Zohny H, Savulescu J, Singh I, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Wilkinson D. Race and resource allocation: an online survey of US and UK adults' attitudes toward COVID-19 ventilator and vaccine distribution. BMJ open. 2022 Nov;12(11):e062561.

Published In

BMJ open

DOI

EISSN

2044-6055

ISSN

2044-6055

Publication Date

November 2022

Volume

12

Issue

11

Start / End Page

e062561

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Ventilators, Mechanical
  • Vaccines
  • United Kingdom
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • COVID-19
  • Black or African American