How Do We Balance the Benefit of Booster Shots for Americans against the Possibility of More Rapidly Vaccinating the Rest of the World?

Craig Klugman, Ph.D., Professor at DePaul University College of Science and Health, will speak on the topic, How Do We Balance the Benefit of Booster Shots for Americans against the Possibility of More Rapidly Vaccinating the Rest of the World?  Preliminary evidence out of Israel suggested that protections from COVID-19 vaccines may wane.  Pfizer has petitioned the FDA to approve third (booster) shots.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that there should not be any third shot in high income countries when the vast majority of the world has yet to see any vaccine:  “You are talking about giving life vests to people who already have life vests when most people have none”.  More recent data calls the Israeli study into question.  Despite the ease of getting a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, 91% of the world’s population still finds these vaccines hard to find or impossible to get.  The WHO says that a pandemic can only end when all of the people of the world have access to the vaccine. Klugman will discuss the inequities in our current vaccine distribution programs and the challenges of justly distributing a vaccine to all of humanity.  Although so far, distribution has been based on who can pay the most for a dose, is that the way we should be distributing these vaccines?

All attendees must be vaccinated, must wear masks at all times, and must remain socially distanced from each other (with the exception of those who live together).

In addition to his position at DePaul, Craig Klugman also serves on the ethics committee at Northwestern University Hospital, is co-founder of the Health Humanities Consortium, and is a voting member of the National Biodefense Science Board.  He is the author of over 650 articles, book chapters, OpEds, and blog posts on such topics as public health ethics, bioethics, digital medicine, crisis and disaster ethics, professionalism, end-of-life issues, education, health/medical humanities, ethics of execution, and health policy.  Dr. Klugman is the editor of several books including Research Methods in the Health Humanities (Oxford 2019), Medical Ethics (Gale Cengage 2016), and Ethical Issues in Rural Health (Hopkins 2013; 2008). He is the executive producer of the award winning film Advance Directives and has developed programs for using art and improvisational theater to teach health to students.  He frequently gives talks to universities, medical and nursing groups, companies, and community organizations as well as consults with hospitals, pharmaceutical and tech companies.