Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
East Mediterr Health J. 2023 Jul 31;29(7):587-598. doi: 10.26719/emhj.23.040.
Priority-setting for early access to vaccines during a pandemic optimizes the impact of vaccine rollout, however, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have little experience in policymaking on this. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the national clinical ethics committee developed a policy for early access to COVID-19 vaccines with support from the national committee on COVID-19 vaccine.
This paper reports the process and results of a national COVID-19 vaccine priority-setting in the Islamic Republic of Iran and discusses its ethical and cultural aspects.
A multidisciplinary team of experts planned and developed a national guideline following an extensive literature review and face-to-face consultations.
We present the list of priority groups and subgroups, tiered through a 4-phase process, as well as the ethical values and sociocultural issues underpinning COVID-19 vaccine prioritization in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Our experience shows that a transparent and well-reasoned policymaking process can inform fair prioritysetting for pandemic vaccines, especially in LMICs.
在大流行期间优先安排疫苗的早期获取可以优化疫苗推出的效果，但中低收入国家（LMICs）在这方面的政策制定经验很少。在伊朗伊斯兰共和国，国家临床伦理委员会在国家 COVID-19 疫苗委员会的支持下制定了 COVID-19 疫苗早期获取的政策。
本文报告了伊朗伊斯兰共和国 COVID-19 疫苗优先排序的过程和结果，并讨论了其伦理和文化方面。
一个多学科专家团队在广泛的文献回顾和面对面协商的基础上，计划和制定了国家指南。
我们提出了优先群体和亚组的清单，通过一个 4 阶段的过程分层，以及伊朗伊斯兰共和国 COVID-19 疫苗优先排序所依据的伦理价值观和社会文化问题。
我们的经验表明，一个透明和合理的决策制定过程可以为大流行疫苗的公平优先排序提供信息，特别是在 LMICs 中。
