Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Sutton’s Law ?


This issue is another twist on the “me first” issue of which group should be a priority on getting the Covid vaccine. After health care workers and the elderly, who should be next? I warned about this months ago and now this sort of haggling is coming to fruition in spades. 

The Euro-zone is apparently having a significant problem with vaccine distribution, and the people of Europe are not happy. In fact Hungary has broken away and is getting its vaccine from Russia. Meanwhile France is trying a unique way to distribute its vaccine. As best I understand they are going to be distributing the vaccine according to areas that have a more significant Covid problem. In eastern France, there is a higher incidence and possibly a higher death toll from Covid, and so they are condoning off an area, and are going to prioritize distributing the vaccine to those who live in that area. 

Does this make sense? Instead of prioritizing the vaccine distribution according to which group can yell the loudest, distribute it according to Sutton’s law. (Sutton’s law is named after the bank robber, Willie Sutton, who reputedly replied to a reporter’s inquiry as to why he robbed banks by saying “because that’s where the money is.”) Insofar as vaccine priority, is it reasonable to prioritize vaccine distribution to those areas “where the money is,” or in other words prioritize the vaccine distribution to those areas where it is needed most.

In Chicago this exemplification of Sutton’s law is taking place.

The following is from an article the 2/17/21 Chicago Sun Times:

“The Latino-majority Belmont Cragin community is one of the city’s hardest-hit by the pandemic for cases and deaths and is one of 15 singled out by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to concentrate vaccination efforts.

Possibly this can be a model for the city’s other high priority areas, such as Gage Park, South Lawndale (Little Village) and Austin that are majority Latino or Black and disproportionately hurt by the virus.”

This plan sounds very similar to what is happening in France.

As much as I hate ever agreeing with mayor Lightfoot of Chicago, (because she is wrong most of the time), here, her plan seems to make sense. The city of Chicago instead of allocating the vaccine to group A over group B because of political clout or the “me first” selfish mentality, it is apparently going where the money is.

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