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Physicians around the world must make daunting decisions in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Chief among their concerns is that there might not be enough of a scarce resource, such as ventilators, ICU beds, or vaccines, for all of the patients who need them. This isn’t a theoretical dilemma. Doctors in Italy faced horrifying choices about which patients should get a ventilator and which they should let die. Fortunately, major U.S. cities have thus far escaped that calamity, but this remains an important concern for the months ahead as we wait to see whether the virus slows down or resurges.
