THE NOTION OF JUSTICE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF VACCINE DISTRIBUTION

ABSTRACT

The notion of justice within the context of vaccine distribution begs the question of  prioritization as it relates to Health Science, aspects of Philosophy, and Economics. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic brought about a setback in world economy. There was the need to invent a vaccine that would fight the virus. The invention of this vaccine brought about the need for its even distribution. Different principles, including Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Utilitarianism, etc. have been advanced as solutions to the problem of resource allocation. In view of this, there is the need to put certain factors into consideration before the distribution of the vaccines. The need for the vaccine cannot be overemphasized, as the pandemic was a global one, affecting almost all the nations in the world. However, unwillingness to accept the vaccine based on certain reasons, some of which are stereotypical, religious, and based on misinformation, brought into the fore, the question of whether or not, the uptake of the vaccine should be compulsory. Consequently, the WHO and other health governing agencies, gave a list of universal standards for vaccine deployment. The notion of justice in the distribution of resources is not a new topic emerging as a consequence of the recent Covid-19 pandemic. It is recurrent and has simply brought the need for equitable access to healthcare with regard to bioethical considerations. This is because, health is a duty and experience of humanity.