Americans split over how hospitals should handle critical care for if there are ventilator shortages % who say doctors should prioritize giving ventilators to
For several weeks there have been concerns about possible ventilator shortages in hospitals with COVID-19 patients, and concerns that medical providers might need to make decisions on how to allocate ventilators if that occurred. Among the public, half (50%) say that, if a shortage occurs, the priority for critical care should be given to patients most in need at the moment, while nearly as many (45%) say the priority should be to patients who doctors think are most likely to recover with treatment.
A majority (58%) of adults under age 30 say the priority in the case of limits on access to ventilators should be “patients who doctors think are most likely to recover with treatment, which may mean more people survive but that some patients don’t receive treatments because they are older or sicker.” By comparison, nearly six-in-ten adults ages 50 and older (57%) say the priority should be “patients who are most in need at the moment, which may mean fewer people overall survive, but doctors do not deny treatments based on age or health status.”
There are also substantial differences in these views by religious affiliation. Roughly six-in-ten evangelical Protestants (60%) and those affiliated with historically black Protestant denominations (59%) say that the priority should be given to patients based on their need in the moment. Opinion leans in the same direction among Catholics (53% say give priority to those most in need vs. 42% who say give priority to those most likely to recover). Mainline Protestants are divided about evenly on this question, while most religiously unaffiliated respondents say patients who are most likely to recover with treatment should be given priority if ventilators are scarce (56%).
Americans split over how hospitals should handle  | critical care for if there are ventilator shortages  | % who say doctors should prioritize giving ventilators to  | Patients who doctors  | Patients who are  | most in need at  | think are most likely to  | recover with treatment  | the moment  | Total  | 50  | 45  | White  | 48  | 47  | Black  | 60  | 36  | Hispanic  | 50  | 45  | Ages 18-29  | 39  | 58  | 30-49  | 45  | 50  | 50-64  | 57  | 37  | 65+  | 57  | 36  | Upper income  | 44  | 52  | Middle income  | 49  | 47  | Low income  | 56  | 40  | Rep/Lean Rep  | 41  | 53  | Dem/Lean Dem  | 49  | 47  | Evangelical Protestant  | 33  | 60  | Mainline Protestant  | 50  | 43  | Historically black Protesta nt  | 59  | 40  | Catholic  | 53  | 42  | Unaffiliated  | 41  | 56  | Notes: Whites and black include only those who are not Hispanic; Hispanics are of jany race  | Family incomes are based on 2018 earnings and adjusted for differences in purchasing  | power by geographic region and for household size. For full question wording, see the  | topline of this survey.  | Source: Survey of U.S adults conducted April 7-12, 2020.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 