Virtual Conversations in Justice and Equity in Bioethics: Controversies Around COVID-19 Vaccines

Dartmouth Health Continuing Education for Professionals Home, Virtual Conversations in Justice and Equity in Bioethics: Controversies Around COVID-19 Vaccines, 4/26/2021 8:00:00 AM - 4/26/2024 9:00:00 AM,

As we continue to face the many challenges that COVID-19 has created, ethical tensions in vaccine allocation remain a controversial topic. The bottom line seems to come down to: “who should be prioritized in receiving the vaccine, and who or what entity should make those decisions?” Join us as we engage in a robust discussion led by a panel of ethicists and health care professionals as we address these and more complicated questions regarding equitable access to vaccination during a worldwide pandemic.

Speakers
• Cynthia Bruzzese, MPA, MSB
Executive Director of the Vermont Ethics Network, Montpelier, VT

• Timothy Lahey, MD, MMSc 
Director of Ethics, Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center

• Evie Marcolini MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FCCM
Staff Physician, Emergency Department, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH; Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Neurocritical Care, Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire; Board of Directors, American Academy of Emergency Medicine

• Catherine Shubkin, MD
Associate Program Director, Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire

• Sally Bliss, MSB, RN, HEC-C: 
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Larner College of Medicine; Clinical Ethicist, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT

• William Nelson, PhD, MDiv
Professor of The Dartmouth Institute, Professor of Community and Family Medicine, Professor of Medical Education, Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire

Learning Outcome(s)
At the conclusion of this learning activity, participants will be able to discuss current issues related to ethical dilemmas posed by the allocation of a scarce resource (COVID 19 vaccine) during the pandemic.

Disclosure
The activity director(s), planning committee member(s), speaker(s), author(s) or anyone in a position to control the content have reported NO financial interest or relationship* with various companies. There were no individuals in a position to control the content that refused to disclose.

*A “financial interest or relationship" refers to an equity position, receipt of royalties, consultantship, funding by a research grant, receiving honoraria for educational services elsewhere, or to any other relationship to a company that provides sufficient reason for disclosure, in keeping with the spirit of the stated policy.

Bibliographic Sources
• Cohen, J., Cho, A., & Moutinho, S. (2020, July 1). Science. The line is forming for a COVID-19 vaccine. Who should be at the front? 
• Emanuel, E. J., Persad, G., Upshur, R., Thome, B., Parker, M., Glickman, A., … Phillips, J. P. (2020, May 21). New England Journal of Medicine. Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19 
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Framework for equitable allocation of COVID-19 vaccine.