Business & Professional Ethics 7th Edition by Leonard Brooks,Paul Dunn

Exercise 14

Throughout 2009, the world was plagued with the H1N1 swine flu epidemic. The H1N1 influenza virus, which began in Mexico, was spreading rapidly. In June the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva declared it to be a global pandemic and suggested that people forgo international travel, especially to countries such as Mexico.
Those who caught the virus would suffer from chills, fever, headaches, coughing, pain, weakness, and general discomfort. At the extreme it could kill, and thousands around the world died from the disease. In order to minimize the chances of catching swine flu, the WHO recommended that everyone be inoculated against the disease. However, there was not enough vaccine currently available and so a priority system had to be established so that those who were at greater risk should be inoculated first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta recommended the following people be in the priority group to receive the vaccine first: pregnant women, caregivers of young children, health care and emergency medical service personnel, people from 6 months to 24 years of age, and people from age 24 to 65 who have a greater risk of developing complications from the virus. The risks to people over 65 years of age are less than for younger age groups and so the elderly were not included in the priority group.
Although many people chose not to receive the vaccine, the line ups of those who wanted to be inoculated were often hours long. Sometimes people waited all day only to be told at the end of the day that the supply of the vaccine had run out. On November 2, 2009, BusinessWeek reported that Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and a number of other large employers in New York city were given the vaccine to distribute. Although these companies were to follow the CDC priority group guidelines, there was the appearance that these employees were line jumping, especially after it was revealed that Goldman Sachs received as many doses as the Lennox Hill Hospital. At the same time, it was reported that many of the Calgary Flames hockey players, along with their families, the coaching staff, and management, had also received the swine flu vaccine. None of these people were in the priority group.
From a utilitarian point of view, who do you think should be in the priority group? From a justice as fairness perspective, who should be in the priority group?