A Perspective on the Role of Point-of-Care Immuno-Triaging to Optimize COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution in a Time of Scarcity

Vaccine bears hope to bring COVID-19 pandemic under control. With limited supply, vaccines must be utilized efficiently to provide protection to those who need it most. Currently, no practical framework has been proposed to ensure fair vaccine allocation at individual level, which is a recognized problem. We propose here an evidence-based decision-making framework for COVID-19 vaccine appropriation that prioritizes vaccine doses to individuals based on their immunological status, or immuno-triaging. To ensure successful implementation of the proposed framework, point-of-care (POC) immunodiagnostic testing is needed to quickly ramp up the testing capability. Considerations for deploying POC immunodiagnostic testing at such a large scale are discussed. We hope that the proposed immunological decision-making framework for evidence-based COVID-19 vaccine appropriation provides an objective approach to ensure fair and efficient utilization of the scarce vaccine resource at the individual level that also maximizes the collective societal benefit.

Automated summary

Vaccines offer hope in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and must be efficiently utilized to protect those most in need. A fair vaccine allocation framework at the individual level is currently lacking, but a proposed evidence-based immunological decision-making framework prioritizes individuals based on their immune status. Rapid point-of-care immunodiagnostic testing is crucial for successful implementation of this framework, aiming to ensure fair and efficient utilization of scarce vaccine resources.