COVID‐19 vaccination in children as a global dilemma through an ethical lens: A retrospective review

Abstract

Background and Aims COVID‐19 pandemic led to a need to rapidly vaccinate as many people as possible. Children are an important part of the population with different characteristics which vaccinating them is a matter of great importance as it should be decided considering all aspects and ethics. Here, we present different aspects of COVID vaccination in children including the potential challenges. Methods We searched on PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus in this regard, and all of the relevant papers published until June 28, 2021 were included if we could access their full‐texts. Results We found various expert opinions in this regard and tried to summarized them. Saving lives has similar ethical value as preventing evitable adverse event. Accordingly, mandating the children to receive the SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine, needs risk‐benefit weighing with special consideration of ethical challenges. Conclusion Considering the vast range of benefits resulted from pediatric vaccination both for the children and the community, implementing the program in a scientific manner and also with the least financial expenses for the families seems to be reasonable and makes it both ethical and moral.

Ethical Challenges Involved in COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Children: A Systematic Review

“…Few studies have focused on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate [ 4 , 5 , 9 , 11 , 12 ]. Among these, [ 5 ] discussed implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in a scientific way, and [ 12 ] discussed the political and functional needs of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.…”

“…Soon after, it became a global pandemic with 290,000,000 confirmed cases and 5,446,753 deaths over the past two years all over the world [ 3 ]. Many countries commenced developing vaccine soon after the pandemic [ 4 ] with the aim of preventing infection-associated morbidity and mortality [ 5 ]. For a vaccine to be developed and made available, it would normally require a minimum duration of at least 12–18 months.…”

“…Most countries have promoted a vaccination drive and some have mandated adult vaccination. They are now focusing on vaccinating children aged 12 to 15 years [ 7 ] with the newly formulated vaccine for children produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna [ 5 ]. Vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 years is also being considered [ 7 ].…”

“…SARS-CoV-2 infection poses a serious risk to the elderly population (over 65 years of age) and those with comorbidities, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, malignancy, and obesity. However, children are at a lower risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 [ 5 ]. According to World Health Organization (WHO) reports, the mortality rate in children below the age of 14 is 0.1% [ 8 ].…”

“…According to World Health Organization (WHO) reports, the mortality rate in children below the age of 14 is 0.1% [ 8 ]. The lack of enough data regarding the effectiveness of vaccines [ 5 ] and the short- and long-term side effects of vaccination in children [ 9 ] has led to significant hesitancy among parents about vaccinating their children [ 8 ].…”