Wiśniowska, Karolina and Żuradzki, Tomasz and Ciszewski, Wojciech (2022) Value choices in European COVID-19 vaccination schedules: how vaccination prioritisation differs from other forms of priority setting. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 9 (2). ISSN 2053-9711

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Abstract

With the limited initial availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the first months of 2021, decision makers had to determine the order in which different groups were prioritised. Our aim was to find out what normative approaches to the allocation of scarce preventive resources were embedded in the national COVID-19 vaccination schedules. We systematically reviewed and compared COVID-19 vaccination prioritisation regulations in 29 countries: 27 members of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Israel. We differentiated between two main types of priority categories: groups that have increased an infection fatality rate (IFR) compared to the average for the general population and groups chosen because their members experience increased risk of being infected (ROI). Our main findings show a clear trend: all researched schedules prioritised criteria referring to individual IFR (in particular being over 65 years old and coexisting health conditions) over the ROI criteria (e.g. occupation and housing conditions). This is surprising since, in the context of treatment, it is rather common and justifiable to adopt very different allocation principles (e.g., introducing a saving more life-years approach or prioritising younger patients). We discuss how utilitarian, prioritarian, and egalitarian principles can be applied to interpret these normative differences between the allocation of curative and preventive interventions.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Wiśniowska, Karolina Żuradzki, Tomasz t.zuradzki@uj.edu.pl 0000-0001-6749-2124 Ciszewski, Wojciech
Keywords:	COVID-19, health care ethics, prevention, prioritarianism, vaccination, vulnerability
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Medicine > Biomedical Ethics Specific Sciences > Medicine > Epidemiology Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Mr. Tomasz Żuradzki
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2023 17:01
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2023 17:01
Item ID:	21909
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Law and the Biosciences
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Official URL:	https://academic.oup.com/jlb/article/9/2/lsac026/6...
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsac026
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Medicine > Biomedical Ethics Specific Sciences > Medicine > Epidemiology Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	26 September 2022
Volume:	9
Number:	2
ISSN:	2053-9711
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21909

Available Versions of this Item

• Value choices in European COVID-19 vaccination schedules: how vaccination prioritisation differs from other forms of priority-setting. (deposited 24 Sep 2022 22:14)
  • Value choices in European COVID-19 vaccination schedules: how vaccination prioritisation differs from other forms of priority setting. (deposited 25 Mar 2023 17:01) [Currently Displayed]

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