Open AccessHealthcare Professionals’ Ethical Responsibility in COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-Making
Author(s) -
Yusrita Zolkefli
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
the malaysian journal of medical sciences/the malaysian journal of medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 2180-4303
pISSN - 1394-195X
DOI - 10.21315/mjms2022.29.2.14
Subject(s) - health professionals , health care , vaccination , social responsibility , public relations , ethical issues , moral responsibility , ethical responsibility , professional responsibility , ethical decision , covid-19 , nursing , political science , business , psychology , medicine , engineering ethics , social psychology , virology , law , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , engineering
Healthcare professionals’ decision about whether to receive COVID-19 vaccination is grounded in fundamental ethical bases. This paper considers some of the ethical responsibilities surrounding vaccination. While healthcare professionals have the right to refuse the vaccine, they are urged to reflect on three key responsibilities in making the decision: i) professional responsibility; ii) social responsibility and iii) personal responsibility within the ethical dimension. This paper also argues that, in promoting vaccine acceptance, healthcare organisations have a greater institutional responsibility to be transparent and keep their staff informed about the vaccine to the best of their ability. A balanced and harmonised ethical responsibility of healthcare professionals must be critically considered in making vaccination decisions.