I wrote about how the issue of ensuring the poor get vaccines is essential but under-discussed by Catholics over at Patheos.
While Catholics in the USA have been extremely concerned over a rather minor issue regarding COVID vaccines, another – probably larger – ethical issue in their regard has arisen. It is clear that Catholics can (& generally should) vaccinate against COVID. The concern is issues of rich countries not sharing with the poor. Let’s examine both the exaggerated and the under-appreciated issue. […]
At the same time, another – probably more significant – issue has arisen with vaccines, namely distribution and issues of vaccine rejection without good reason.
There have been repeated issues with poor countries not getting COVID vaccines. The December note from the Vatican on COVID vaccine ethics rightly noted,
There is… a moral imperative for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines, which are effective and safe from a medical point of view, as well as ethically acceptable, are also accessible to the poorest countries in a manner that is not costly for them.
Read the rest over there if you are interested.
_per_capita_in_2019.svg){kind=link}