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Should healthcare workers be prioritised during the COVID-19 pandemic? A view from Madrid and New York.
Real de Asua, Diego; Fins, Joseph J.
  • Real de Asua D; Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain diego.realdeasua@gmail.com.
  • Fins JJ; Division of Medical Ethics, Cornell University Joan and Sanford I Weill Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
J Med Ethics ; 48(6): 397-400, 2022 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1207512
ABSTRACT
While COVID-19 has generated a massive burden of illness worldwide, healthcare workers (HCWs) have been disproportionately exposed to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. During the so-called 'first wave', infection rates among this population group have ranged between 10% and 20%, raising as high as one in every four COVID-19 patients in Spain at the peak of the crisis. Now that many countries are already dealing with new waves of COVID-19 cases, a potential competition between HCW and non-HCW patients for scarce resources can still be a likely clinical scenario. In this paper, we address the question of whether HCW who become ill with COVID-19 should be prioritised in diagnostic, treatment or resource allocation protocols. We will evaluate some of the proposed arguments both in favour and against the prioritisation of HCW and also consider which clinical circumstances might warrant prioritising HCW and why could it be ethically appropriate to do so. We conclude that prioritising HCW's access to protective equipment, diagnostic tests or even prophylactic or therapeutic drug regimes and vaccines might be ethically defensible. However, prioritising HCWs to receive intensive care unit (ICU) beds or ventilators is a much more nuanced decision, in which arguments such as instrumental value or reciprocity might not be enough, and economic and systemic values will need to be considered.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Vaccines Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: J Med Ethics Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Medethics-2020-107050

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Vaccines Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: J Med Ethics Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Medethics-2020-107050