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. 2022 Feb;22(2):371-380.
doi: 10.1111/ajt.16878. Epub 2021 Nov 15.

Ethical review of COVID-19 vaccination requirements for transplant center staff and patients

Olivia S Kates  1 , Peter G Stock  2 , Michael G Ison  3 , Richard D M Allen  4 , Patrizia Burra  5 , Jong Cheol Jeong  6 , Vivek Kute  7 , Elmi Muller  8 , Alejandro Nino-Murcia  9 , Haibo Wang  10 , Anji Wall  11
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Ethical review of COVID-19 vaccination requirements for transplant center staff and patients

Olivia S Kates et al. Am J Transplant. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Transplant centers seeking to increase coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine coverage may consider requiring vaccination for healthcare workers or for candidates. The authors summarize current data to inform an ethical analysis of the harms, benefits, and individual and societal impact of mandatory vaccination, concluding that vaccine requirements for healthcare workers and transplant candidates are ethically justified by beneficence, net utility, and fiduciary duty to patients and public health. Implementation strategies should mitigate concerns about respect for autonomy and transparency for both groups. We clarify how the same arguments might be applied to related questions of caregiver vaccination, allocation of other healthcare resources, and mandates for non-COVID-19 vaccines. Finally, we call for effort to achieve global equity in vaccination as soon as possible.

Keywords: editorial/personal viewpoint; ethics; ethics and public policy; infection and infectious agents-viral; infectious disease; law/legislation; organ transplantation in general; recipient selection; vaccine; waitlist management.

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References

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