Vaccination

David M. Gorski | 17 Mar 2016 |  One of the more frequent claims of antivaccine activists often comes in the form of a  question, usually something like, "If your child is vaccinated, why are you worried about my children? They don't pose any danger to you." Of course, the premise behind that question is, ironically, one that conflicts with the belief that vaccines are ineffective: that vaccines are so effective that there's no reason for the parents of a vaccinated child to be concerned if that child comes in contact with another child with a vaccine-preventable disease. . . .continue reading

Stacie Kershner et al | 28 January, 2019 | . . . [C]lustered outbreaks of deadly and highly contagious, but vaccine-preventable, diseases are becoming frustratingly routine around the country. These outbreaks are caused by some parents' decision to claim religious and philosophical exemptions to state mandates that children must be vaccinated in order to attend school. In response, prominent health organizations and advocacy groups have called on state legislatures to eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions. . . . In a collaboration among legal scholars and public health experts, we have developed an alternative approach: a model law that aims to reduce the number of parents who decline to vaccinate their children while respecting freedom of conscience. . . continue reading

Joel Michael Reynolds | 19 November, 2018 | Across the country, billboards are popping up suggesting that vaccines can kill children, when the science behind vaccination is crystal clear – vaccinations are extremely safe. . . As a bioethicist who investigates how societal values impact medicine, I consider such decisions to be downright indefensible. And here are three reasons why. . .continue reading

Patrick Parkinson | 8 September, 2021 | Australia | A couple of decades ago, there were hardly any anti-vaxxers in Australia. Those who held the belief that it was wrong to prevent illness by receiving a vaccine typically rejected other aspects of modern life and government regulation as well. The anti-vaxxer movement gathered pace with the publication of an article in a medical journal, since retracted and thoroughly discredited, that purported to make a link between vaccination and autism. Since then the movement has become widespread. Now, vaccination against Covid has emerged as a religious issue – at least in some theologically conservative circles. . . . So what can a lawyer offer? Well, at least a little clarity about the issues and some explanation of the relevant law. That may at least help others to understand what is and is not in contest. . . continue reading

Margaret Somerville | 8 October, 2021 | . . .If justified mandatory vaccination in precisely defined contexts can effectively address even some of these issues, I propose it is not only ethical, but ethically required. “Justified” means that mandatory vaccination must be the least invasive, least restrictive alternative reasonably available and likely to be effective to achieve the goal of minimising, as far as possible, the spread of Covid-19, and the risks, harms, and consequences that go along with it . . . continue reading

Margaret Somerville | 10 May, 2021 |  The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a multitude of complex ethical issues — and new ones present themselves daily. . . In many COVID-19 related decision-making situations at each of these levels, decision makers face what is called in bioethics a “world of competing sorrows” — that is, decision making in which there is no “no harm” option, but in which, instead, they must choose to whom harm will be allocated. . . What I want to focus on here is a particular micro- level issue: that of a healthcare professional’s obligation to obtain a person’s informed consent to COVID-19 vaccination. . . continue reading

Dave Stevens |  I spent a lot of time learning about immunization practices while a missionary in Africa. I had an isolation ward full of children with measles complications and a quarter of them died in the hospital. . . It is clear to me that Steve LeBlanc's, the author of this article, comments are less about immunizations and more about right of conscience. . .continue reading