Sustained ethical analysis of global dilemmas and country-level decision making during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of countries worldwide and their abilities to cope with the fast-paced demands of the research and medical community. A key to promoting ethical decision-making frameworks is by calibrating the sustainability at regional, national, and global levels to incorporate coordinated reforms. We performed a sustained ethical analysis and critically reviewed evidence addressing country-level responses to practices during the COVID-19 pandemic using PubMed entire population during the pandemic was applied to thematically delineate findings under equality, best outcomes (utility), prioritizing the worst off, and prioritizing those tasked with helping others. The findings demarcate ethical concerns about the validity of drug and vaccine trials in developing and developed countries, hints of unjust healthcare organizational policies, lack of equal allocation of pertinent resources, miscalculated allocation of resources to essential workers and stratified populations. KEYWORDS: Allocation of Health Care Resources, Clinical Ethics, Decision-making, International Affairs,

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of countries worldwide in dealing with the demands of the research and medical community. By calibrating sustainability at regional, national, and global levels, ethical decision-making frameworks can be promoted. The study highlights ethical concerns regarding the validity of drug and vaccine trials, unjust healthcare organizational policies, unequal allocation of resources, and miscalculated allocation to essential workers and stratified populations.