Vaccination

COVID-19 Vaccines: Bioethical Consideration

“…( 5) Utilitarianism is a consequentialist approach, which advocates that vaccination policies and actions be intended to achieve the most significant possible impact on general well-being. (5,21) In this context, utilitarianism could justify the mandatory vaccination to health professionals where there would be a tremendous social impact. It would preserve pro-fessionals at the forefront of the COVID-19 care and at significant risk of contamination and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, while guaranteeing the service to the population, constituting a more significant impact on the community as a whole.…”

“…(6,21) In liberalism, it is the individual who determines the benefit of vaccination for himself, while, in communitarianism, a community benefit from vaccination would be prioritized. (5) In this sense, Afolabi considers liberalism and communitarianism as unethical postulates intended merely to justify social conduct, whether in the sense of vaccination hesitation without justifiable reason or in the sense of making vaccination mandatory when immune response and safety remain incompletely elucidated. (5) Therefore, in a pandemic, with the non-equal distribution of vaccines globally, deciding on autonomy in the emergency use of COVID-19 based strictly on theories can entail serious bias.…”

“…Each theory has fundamentals that, separately, can result in mandatory measures or not. (5,6,21) A moderate approach to autonomy as proposed by the WHO to balance community and individual well-being may be appropriate in the context of the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines. (22) In its policy brief dated May 13, 2021, the WHO has highlighted that it does not support any measures for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, including international travel, and, in particular, does not encourage mandatory systems based on threats or restriction of rights such as working or studying, which may otherwise undermine vaccine confidence.…”

“…Furthermore, a race started to develop drugs for treating patients with COVID-19 and, above all, vaccines that can interrupt viral transmission through collective immunity and avoid the occurrence of moderate to severe forms of the disease, reducing morbimortality. (3)(4)(5)(6)(7).…”

The Ethical Duty of Physicians to Strengthen Their Own Immunization and Childhood Vaccination

“…Therefore, it raises the justice principle importance as the ethical basis for obligatoriness [26]. The ethical consideration of non-maleficence that addresses the risk of adverse drug-use events [28], should not even be discussed since vaccines benefits are so much higher than damages risks [18]. In summary, it is verified that when the seriousness of the disease is severe, contagiousness is high and the vaccine safety is unquestionable, also, there is a prevalence of interests in beneficence, utilitarianism, justice, and non-maleficence that surpass the respect for individual choice (autonomy) [26].…”