“As I heard story after story after story, I realized we were going to see a ton of gaming, it’s going to be less efficient and inequitable, and I think a lot of us felt like this is too complicated,” Jha, , said Tuesday during taping of the 12th episode of “COVID: What Comes Next,” the weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast. 

Jha reaffirmed his advocacy for first vaccinating high-risk healthcare and other frontline workers, residents and staffs of nursing homes, and people living who live with underlying conditions. But even as states prioritize other groups, Jha said “the implementation is going to really just kill us, it's going to slow us way down and it's not going to be done well.” 

The Brown dean first publicly proposed a lottery system in a Sunday New York Times op-ed essay cowritten with Dr. Robert M. Wachter, chairman of the University of California at San Francisco’s department of medicine. The two physicians have also called for single-dose use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines so that more people can quickly receive a degree of immunity, with the recommended second doses delayed. 

 Jha and Wachter recommended that after front-line workers, nursing home residents and staff, and people with co-morbidity have been vaccinated, likely by the end of this month, all people should be vaccinated “from oldest to youngest.” After that, they wrote, “to determine the order for the remaining 150 million or so American adults, use a lottery.” 

On the “COVID: What Comes Next” podcast, Jha said “just make it something super simple like a lottery. It won't be perfect but it'll be much better than what is likely to be implemented.” 

Also on the podcast, Jha discussed the likelihood that Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol will become a superspreader event. Already, two Congresswoman who were inside the building when the pro-Trump mob broke in have been infected with coronavirus disease, which they trace to the Wednesday riot.  

Jha also assessed the merits of mass-vaccination sites. Stadiums, California’s Disneyland, and other venues have recently begun offering the two approved vaccines to large numbers of people. The Brown dean then discussed two vaccines in development but not yet approved for use in the U.S.: The Astra-Zeneca and Johnson & Johnson products. 

And the pandemic expert also answered an audience question from a scientific researcher who wrote to the podcast “in frustration of those around me who refuse to or are hesitant to take the vaccine. I am hoping you can offer some advice on how to approach these individuals. I understand that this issue is more related to scientific communication and public health as a whole, but how can we work towards communicating to our loved ones about the safety and efficacy of this amazing research?” 

If you have a COVID-related question, please send to gwmiller@providencejournal.com with “Question for Dr. Jha” in the subject field. Dr. Jha will get to as many questions as he can, but regrettably, given the volume, he cannot get to all. And please note Dr. Jha’s advice: Questions regarding one’s personal situation should be put to your healthcare provider. 

This weekly podcast is hosted by G. Wayne Miller, health reporter for The Providence Journal.