Ethical considerations in alternative COVID-19 vaccination strategies: delayed second doses, mixing vaccines, and partial doses
Faced with scarce and uncertain COVID-19 vaccine supplies, many countries are considering adopting vaccination schedules that differ from the recommendations of vaccine manufacturers. Some have extended the interval between doses for two-dose vaccines to provide at least some protection for a larger number of people sooner. Others are looking at maximizing the number of people receiving some degree of protection by administering partial doses or foregoing the second dose of two-dose vaccines altogether. A third approach under consideration is whether two different COVID-19 vaccines could be given at the same time, to complete a two-dose vaccination regimen in one visit. Deviations from manufacturer's recommendations could be seen as experimental, and have the capacity to threaten public confidence, but they might also avert substantial morbidity and mortality in populations. This seminar will explore the ethical considerations that ought to guide decision-making regarding adopting alternative vaccination strategies or implementing vaccine manufacturer recommendations.
Chair: Professor Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, Canada
Speakers:
Dr Raji Tajudeen, Head of Division of Public Health Institutes and Research, Africa CDC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Prof Jonathan Wolff, Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, UK
Cassandra J. Opikokew Wajuntah, Director, Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre; Assistant Professor, First Nations University of Canada, Saskatchewan, Canada.
You are invited to post any questions to panellists in the 'Questions & Comments' box below, or during the session.
To find out more about this webinar and the Epidemic Ethics series or view the briefing paper for this discussion go to: epidemicethics.tghn.org/seminars/
theglobalhealthnetwork.org
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