Raus Kasper, Mortier Eric, Eeckloo Kristof
Strategic Policy Cell, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Acta Clin Belg. 2022 Jun;77(3):600-605. doi: 10.1080/17843286.2021.1925027. Epub 2021 May 19.
More than 1 year after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic it is becoming increasingly clear that vaccines will prove to be essential in combating this global pandemic. The demand for such vaccines is great (since nearly everyone is a candidate for vaccination) yet supplies are currently limited. This raises clear ethical questions regarding the current and future Covid-19 vaccines.
In this paper we highlight the several ethical questions that are raised using a three-fold categorization. We will discuss questions concerning: (1) the design and testing of vaccines; (2) who gets the vaccines; and (3) the tensions between public health and individual interest/autonomy. Each of these three more broad categories encompasses many different and concrete ethical questions.
We argue that different ethical frameworks apply both across these three categories, but also within these categories.
Despite the fact that ethical conflict might not completely disappear, we argue that distinguishing and discussing separate questions from an ethical perspective can help create the necessary clarity and provide an ethical justification in favour of particular vaccination issues.
在新冠疫情爆发一年多后，越来越明显的是，疫苗将被证明是对抗这一全球大流行的关键。对这类疫苗的需求巨大（因为几乎每个人都是接种疫苗的对象），但目前供应有限。这就引发了关于当前和未来新冠疫苗的一系列明确的伦理问题。
在本文中，我们使用三重分类法突出了引发的几个伦理问题。我们将讨论以下问题：（1）疫苗的设计和测试；（2）谁能获得疫苗；（3）公共卫生与个人利益/自主权之间的紧张关系。这三个更广泛的类别中的每一个都包含许多不同的具体伦理问题。
我们认为，不同的伦理框架适用于这三个类别，也适用于这些类别内部。
尽管伦理冲突可能不会完全消失，但我们认为，从伦理角度区分和讨论不同的问题有助于创造必要的清晰度，并为支持特定的疫苗接种问题提供伦理依据。
