Art Caplan has a new piece at bioethics.net on Princeton’s plan to import and administer a meningitis vaccine not approved for use in the US in an effort to curb an outbreak of meningitis B that has already sickened several students.
Government health officials said Friday they have agreed to import Bexsero, a vaccine licensed only in Europe and Australia that does protect against meningitis B. And that decision seems entirely reasonable given the threat that this nasty strain of meningitis poses.
That said, the question arises — what should those getting the vaccine be told? Are they being offered a proven vaccine, an experimental vaccine, a vaccine believed to be the best choice given the threat of an epidemic or something else? Can a student, campus worker or faculty member refuse the vaccination and stay in school or in a dorm? Should those who have visited the campus recently be tracked down and offered the vaccine? If people do refuse should they identify themselves in anyway as unvaccinated and to whom?
Read the full article here.