Forum for Global Health Ethics: Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines

Overview

The Forum for Global Health Ethics: Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines, an online event organized jointly by the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME) at the University of Zurich, the Swiss Medical Weekly, and FLACSO Argentina. This forum is kindly supported by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the World Health Summit and the European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics.

At this time of the pandemic, we face the impossibility of having enough Covid-19 vaccines for everyone in the near future. While some high-income countries have launched massive Covid-19 vaccination campaigns, in many low and middle-income countries vaccination has barely started, leaving their most vulnerable groups and health care workers unprotected. Some argue that governments have the duty to give priority to its own population before helping citizens abroad; others claim that vaccines should be allocated equitably at the global level; and others hold views in between.

In this forum, organizer open the floor to a discussion about the priority of values and ethical principles that should guide vaccine allocation. Experts who hold different views on equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines will present their arguments, discuss with other speakers, and answer questions from the audience.

Speakers

• Arthur Caplan, Division of Medical Ethics, New York University
• Heidi Larson, Vaccine Confidence Project, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Florencia Luna, Program of Bioethics, FLACSO Argentina
• Keymanthri Moodley, Centre for Medical Ethics & Law, Stellenbosch University
• Rino Rappuoli, External Research and Development, GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines
• Jan Helge Solbakk, Centre for Medical Ethics, University of Oslo

The chair of the forum is Nikola Biller-Andorno, and the moderators are Tania Manríquez Roa and Felicitas Holzer (all three are members of the IBME).  

Click here to join the event, password 621417. No registration needed.