Academic reflection related to ethical problem-solving in health care is an effective strategy for developing critical thinking, leadership skills, and compassion. In this paper, the question of ethical clinical practice associated with the treatment of COVID-19 patients was chosen as the subject of reflection. This disease defined the social order in 2020, exposing several challenges, including the health care system’s readiness for a pandemic.
A central issue that raises an apparent ethical question is determining public priorities. As of 2019, when the world’s governments were not yet aware of the looming threat, U.S. federal defense spending was seven times higher than health care spending (Amadeo, 2021). This prioritization raises doubts about the effectiveness of leadership and real concern for people’s social needs. When it came to choosing between funding health care and demonstrating the state’s military power, the government chose the second option. The result of this approach was complete unpreparedness for a pandemic, appearing in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
In addition, there is an ethical dilemma associated with forcing vaccination on the population. It seems that the medical programs being developed should be wholly voluntary and take into account personal rights and freedoms. According to Reinhart (2020), by now, only 58% of Americans are willing to get vaccinated, while the remaining 42% have so far refused. This means that a high percentage of vaccine refusals could cause third and fourth disease waves to develop. Recognizing citizens’ interests, the government needs to find alternative options to control the spread of infection.
Finally, the third ethical aspect of health care in this paper is the discussion of digital control of those who have been vaccinated. The fact of vaccine injection guarantees immunity to COVID-19, so such citizens are free to travel. Nevertheless, in an attempt to keep up the pace, governments worldwide are introducing immunity passports to facilitate free passage through border areas (Baylis & Kofler, 2020). This approach becomes an ethical problem of forced diversification of people since citizens without a passport will not travel outside the region. Thus, they find themselves in a deliberate lose-lose situation.
Summarizing the above, it should be noted that the discussion of ethical aspects in health care is essential. It allows setting priorities by having a vision of the full picture of the situation. In this paper, reflections on ethics in the COVID-19 pandemic were presented. It has been shown that the questions of state priorities of compulsory vaccination and digital control are not unequivocal but must be resolved with the real interests of the population in mind.
References
Amadeo, K. (2021). FY 2019 federal budget: Trump’s budget request. The Balance. Web.
Baylis, F., & Kofler, N. (2020). A public health ethic should inform policies on COVID-19 immunity passports. Web.
Reinhart, R. (2020). More Americans now willing to get COVID-19 vaccine. Gallup. Web.