Open AccessAn ethical analysis of vaccinating children against COVID-19: benefits, risks, and issues of global health equity
Author(s) -
Rachel GurArie,
Steven R. Kraaijeveld,
Euzebiusz Jamrozik
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
wellcome open research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.298
H-Index - 21
ISSN - 2398-502X
DOI - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17234.2
Subject(s) - vaccination , covid-19 , equity (law) , public health , environmental health , medicine , ethical issues , development economics , political science , economic growth , immunology , disease , economics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , nursing , pathology , engineering ethics , engineering
COVID-19 vaccination of children has begun in various high-income countries with regulatory approval and general public support, but largely without careful ethical consideration. This trend is expected to extend to other COVID-19 vaccines and lower ages as clinical trials progress. This paper provides an ethical analysis of COVID-19 vaccination of healthy children. Specifically, we argue that it is currently unclear whether routine COVID-19 vaccination of healthy children is ethically justified in most contexts, given the minimal direct benefit that COVID-19 vaccination provides to children, the potential for rare risks to outweigh these benefits and undermine vaccine confidence, and substantial evidence that COVID-19 vaccination confers adequate protection to risk groups, such as older adults, without the need to vaccinate healthy children. We conclude that child COVID-19 vaccination in wealthy communities before adults in poor communities worldwide is ethically unacceptable and consider how policy deliberations might evolve in light of future developments.