Yahoo News: Vaccine guilt is good – as long it doesn’t stop you from getting a shot
Cincinnati Children's ethicist and UC assistant professor weighs in on COVID-19 vaccine
Elizabeth Lanphier, PhD, clinical ethicist in the Ethics Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and assistant professor of pediatrics in the UC College of Medicine, authored an opinion piece on vaccine guilt — a feeling associated with getting immunized for protection against COVID-19 before others. The phenomenon has been reported in the U.S. and overseas and while understandable isn’t a reason for forgo a vaccination. More than 100 million Americans have now received at least one dose, says Lanphier.
Elizabeth Lanphier, PhD. Photo submitted.
Lanphier explains that vaccine guilt began nearly as soon as COVID-19 vaccinations did. “The first COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for emergency use in December 2020, and eligibility was narrowly restricted to front-line health care workers, other essential workers and those whose age or medical conditions placed them at greatest risk if they contracted COVID-19,” Lanphier wrote. “But even among this first at-risk cohort, reports emerged of vaccine recipients feeling vaccine guilt.
“With the U.S. now administering millions of doses a day and President Joe Biden vowing to expand eligibility to every adult by May 1, 2021, or possibly earlier – and some states reaching this target sooner – one might think vaccine guilt is going away,” continues Lanphier.
Read her full opinion piece online.
Learn more about Elizabeth Lanphier, PhD, online.
Featured image of a vaccine shot is courtesy of Unsplash.
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