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LONDON – A suggestion by an ethics professor at a major UK university that governments should pay citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has sparked a debate about whether such incentives are ethical or dangerous and whether they would drive or they would limit their acceptance.
Julian Savulescu, a professor at the Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, argued that governments should consider a “pay-for-risk” approach to encouraging their populations to receive COVID-19 injections when available, he said it would allow people make an informed choice
“Anti-vaccines may never be persuaded to change their stance, but incentivizing vaccination may persuade others who may not have done so to get the vaccine,” he wrote in an article in the BMJ British Medical Journal. .
“The advantage of pay per risk is that people voluntarily choose to take it. As long as we are precise in conveying … the risks and benefits of a vaccine, then it is up to people to judge whether it is worth paying for. “
With dozens of potential COVID-19 vaccines in development and some expected to be ready for regulatory approval and possible roll-out next month, public health authorities are considering ways to address the varying levels of trust and vacillation of vaccines across the country. all the world.
Preliminary results from a survey conducted in 19 countries during the three months to August showed that only about 70% of British and American respondents would receive the COVID-19 vaccine. That echoed the May findings of a Reuters / Ipsos poll that found a quarter of Americans had little to no interest in getting vaccinated against the pandemic disease.
Savulescu pointed to precedent for payment for “civic duty”: Blood donations are paid for in various countries, he wrote.
But other experts strongly cautioned against offering financial incentives.
“Paying people to get vaccinated would set a very dangerous precedent,” said Keith Neal, emeritus professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Nottingham.
“Social media falsehoods would have a field day suggesting it can’t be safe if you need to get paid to have it.”
When it comes to routine childhood vaccinations, such as those against contagious diseases like measles, the World Health Organization says making them mandatory is one of the best ways to increase coverage rates. But policies that incentivize or make vaccines mandatory for adults are rare.
Helen Bedford, professor of children’s public health at University College London, said the idea was “ill-thought-out and potentially counterproductive.”
“Other than the flu vaccine for healthcare workers, there is little experience globally in requiring adult vaccines and even less experience in providing incentives,” he said.
He said a better investment would be to encourage the adoption of COVID vaccines with “full and transparent communication.”
