Abstract
COVID-19 vaccine uptake among healthcare workers (HCWs) remains of significant public health concern due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many healthcare institutions are considering or have implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs. We assess defenses of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs from both public health and professional ethics perspectives. We consider public health values, professional obligations of HCWs, and the institutional failures in healthcare throughout the COVID-19 pandemic which have impacted the lived experiences of HCWs. We argue that, despite the compelling urgency of maximizing COVID-19 vaccine uptake among HCWs, the ethical case for COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs in the United States is complex, and, under current circumstances, inconclusive. Nevertheless, we recognize that COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs have already been and will continue to be implemented across many healthcare institutions. Given such context, we provide suggestions for implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for HCWs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 331-342 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Bioethics |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 29 Jan 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to acknowledge the Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE) for connecting us as collaborators. For helpful research assistance, we'd like to thank Vladimíra Martínková and Sewa Hasan. We'd also like to thank the audience at The Alden March Bioethics Institute at the Albany Medical Center, especially Samuel Reiss-Dennis. Rachel Gur-Arie received support from the Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE), funded by the Wellcome Trust. Brian Hutler and Justin Bernstein have received support from the National Science Foundation (Grant 2122574).
Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the Oxford‐Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE) for connecting us as collaborators. For helpful research assistance, we'd like to thank Vladimíra Martínková and Sewa Hasan. We'd also like to thank the audience at The Alden March Bioethics Institute at the Albany Medical Center, especially Samuel Reiss‐Dennis. Rachel Gur‐Arie received support from the Oxford‐Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE), funded by the Wellcome Trust. Brian Hutler and Justin Bernstein have received support from the National Science Foundation (Grant 2122574).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Funding
We would like to acknowledge the Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE) for connecting us as collaborators. For helpful research assistance, we'd like to thank Vladimíra Martínková and Sewa Hasan. We'd also like to thank the audience at The Alden March Bioethics Institute at the Albany Medical Center, especially Samuel Reiss-Dennis. Rachel Gur-Arie received support from the Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE), funded by the Wellcome Trust. Brian Hutler and Justin Bernstein have received support from the National Science Foundation (Grant 2122574). We would like to acknowledge the Oxford‐Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE) for connecting us as collaborators. For helpful research assistance, we'd like to thank Vladimíra Martínková and Sewa Hasan. We'd also like to thank the audience at The Alden March Bioethics Institute at the Albany Medical Center, especially Samuel Reiss‐Dennis. Rachel Gur‐Arie received support from the Oxford‐Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Collaborative (GLIDE), funded by the Wellcome Trust. Brian Hutler and Justin Bernstein have received support from the National Science Foundation (Grant 2122574).
Keywords
- COVID-19
- healthcare workers
- policy
- vaccine mandates
