“Find Your Place in the Vaccine Line” tools encourage people to think individualistically about the pandemic. That’s not how pandemics work.

When I plug my information into models predicting when I might get the Covid-19 vaccine, I have to scroll almost to the end, past 268 million or so other Americans, until I see my place in line. Health workers and those working and living in care facilities will be the first to receive the vaccines, if states follow the recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this past week (most say they will). Next, the vaccine will likely go to those with vulnerable health conditions, as well as to teachers and childcare workers, other essential workers in high-risk settings, those who live in homeless shelters and prisons, and the elderly. After that, once there’s safety data on how well the vaccine works in children, kids will likely be vaccinated, along with any remaining essential workers. And then the shots will go to everyone else—including me.

I feel pretty good about that: I’m reasonably young and healthy, and I can work from home in my non-essential job for the foreseeable future. But there’s also another reason I’m not too worried about coming last: I’m not, actually, coming last. I won’t have to wait for my “turn” to start seeing the benefits of the new vaccines. Read more at The New Republic.