Word traveled fast throughout the University of Virginia in mid-March: a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site had opened two hours south by car in Danville, VA. UVA students and other Charlottesville residents flocked to the Danville community vaccination site, many organizing packed carpools and leaving early in the morning to ensure they would arrive before supplies ran out.
I was among the many students who traveled from Charlottesville to Danville to receive my COVID-19 vaccine on March 23. In the moment, there was no conversation of ethics; it was an opportunity to secure greater protection from the virus. The hopes of returning to something close to normal life as soon as possible was at the front of my mind.
There are plenty of factors that might motivate someone to get their COVID vaccine, ranging from selfish to altruistic: reducing community transmission, protecting high-risk roommates, feeling more secure when returning home to family members, or just desiring to eat inside restaurants and travel via airplane with less fear. Ultimately though, it does not matter. Everyone who is able has a responsibility to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible in order to prevent community spread.
This spring, as vaccines are rapidly becoming available in more and more places, wasting time by not acting on the first opportunity that presents itself would be unethical. That said, we must recognise that certain demographics should rightfully be prioritized. It is immoral for any individual to lie or cut corners with the goal of circumventing these agreed upon guidelines.
From this, two complimentary moral imperatives arise: 1) it is every individual’s responsibility to get themselves vaccinated as soon as the opportunity presents itself, and 2) we must be honest about our personal information and only pursue opportunities that are appropriate based on our individual status.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH), by instituting a walk-in policy at the Danville community vaccination center, made a mistake. If their bird’s eye view of population demographics -- including racial, socioeconomic, and health factors -- indicated that the population in and immediately around Danville was at greater need of vaccine prioritization, there should have been some guidelines in place to restrict allocated doses to residents of that region.
Everyone who traveled to Danville to receive a dose before the VDH changed vaccination center’s policy from ‘walk-in’ to ‘by appointment only’ was asked basic information including their name (verified by photo ID), address, birthday, and if they had previously tested positive for Covid-19. There is added value to having walk-in vaccination centers, making them as accessible as possible. But, if the doses were only intended for local residents, why was there no residential screening? The VDH should not have expected individuals to be deterred from traveling from other parts of the state by the length of the drive alone given the widespread understanding of our collective ethical imperative to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
This failure to screen on behalf of the state was exasperated by a failure of clear communication. Nowhere was it advertised that the doses were only intended for residents of Danville. On the contrary, workers at the vaccination center were thrilled to receive UVA students and implored us to spread the word to other students to come to Danville for their dose.
The argument that UVA students should have come to the conclusion on their own that the doses were not for them violates the two moral imperatives I established above. We were fulfilling our duty to act quickly when given the opportunity to get vaccinated, and we were totally honest about where we traveled from.
It is the state’s responsibility to organise the order of who gets vaccinated. If that responsibility fell on individuals, it would be a messy free-or-all. Assuming that individuals have the responsibility to check that more deserving populations have already been vaccinated would create a situation tantamount to when a polite group of people all refuse to take the last slice of pie, causing it to sit uneaten and wasting precious time.
The VDH has since admitted that there were too many doses allocated to Danville and that some of the doses have been redistributed [1]. In the meantime, UVA has begun facilitating vaccination appointments for all students through the UVA Health Center.
It is possible that UVA students who traveled to Danville may have taken vaccine doses intended for individuals who needed them more. Assuming that is the case, they should not have been vaccinated in Danville. But, the state should not have left it to our discretion. It is our primary responsibility as individuals to get vaccinated as soon as the opportunity presents itself. With open doors and receptive administrators, UVA students who accepted the Danville Vaccination Center’s invitation to walk in acted ethically.
References:
Higgins, Jessie. “UVA students, community members flock to mass vaccination center in Danville”, Charlottesville Tomorrow, March 25, 2021. https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/uva-students-community-members-flock-to-mass-vaccination-clinic-in-danville/