One argument for getting politicians inoculated early (made, for example, here) is that it will allay people’s doubts about the vaccines and encourage them to follow suit. That’s also an argument for other high-profile people to be early in line.

But it’s not an argument that seems very pressing. There’s no shortage of demand for the vaccines. We may eventually reach the point where almost everyone who is highly motivated has gotten the shots, and persuading laggards serves the public interest. But we’re not there yet.

And by the time we reach that point, many millions of people will have gotten the vaccines. People who aren’t reassured by the vaccines’ track record by that point seem unlikely to be moved by hearing that a congressman got them.

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There may well be other reasons for politicians to be toward the front of the line: In the normal course of things, they travel a lot and meet a lot of people. It’s the role-model argument that has me skeptical.