(S.26) Mandatory Vaccination: Case Study Flashcards
Forms of mandates
- Use of force
- Criminalizing non-vaccination
- Not force but penalties
- Jail, fine, sanction
- Conditioning access to services, jobs, school, etc., on vaccination?
- Imposing costs on the unvaccinated
- Allowing people to purchase the option to not comply
- Ex. fine, lawsuits, higher health insurance
- Providing incentives for vaccination
○ Vax passports - Persuasion
vaccination mandates
requirements that one be vaccinated as a condition of working in a particular setting, going to school .etc
- Not ‘mandatory’ strictly speaking – truly compulsory vaccination (e.g., smallpox vaccination) is rare
T or F: vaccine mandates use force
○ Not using force
○ Don’t have to do it but might have compelling reasons to comply
Ex. of mandates
- Schulich vaccination policy for those in MD program
- not Western University policy
- policy created at another level (Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine) - Ontario Immunization of School Pupils Act
- Can object to having your child vaccinated for religious/medical reasons
- Must apply for exemption & go through education program
- medical officer can still exclude student from school - COVID
Did COVID vaccine mandates work? *
Measured introduction of vaccine mandates for COVID and the uptake of first doses : estimate is a 66% increase in the pace of vaccination
- might say mandates work on these grounds
What does ‘work’ mean?
What are the mandate’s objectives?
- Improve vaccine uptake?
- Improve pace of vaccine uptake?
- Increase proportion of vaccinated individuals in a given setting?
○ University = goal not for entire population - Reduce incidence of infection? (Population level? Setting specific?)
- Reduce transmission? (Population level? Setting specific?)
- Reduce incidence of severe disease, hospitalization, death?
○ Reduces hospitalization not transmission/infection - Reduce absenteeism (from work, school)?
○ Western’s mandate, wanting to avoid disruption - Achieve herd immunity?
○ Threshold that protects the unvaccinated - All/some of the above? Other?
Clarity about objectives with mandates can …. and is crucial for ….
- foster public trust and cooperation
- crucial for ethical appraisal and scientific evaluation
Things to be considered when determining if a policy is justified beyond scientific sense
- Lack of trust in government, pharmaceutical companies
- Infringes on autonomy
○ Effectiveness is not all that matters - Whether it is necessary
○ Might be effective but deemed unnecessary
Coercion
involves the use of force, threats, or intimidation to compel individuals to do something they would not otherwise do
______ is often applied to argue policies aren’t justified
coercion
T or f: coersive = bad
F: May think some things are coercive but okay, does not determine if it is a bad thing
_________ is always coercive power backed up by the government’s use of sanctions, for government alone has the authority to use force in upholding its laws
Political power
coercion is distinguished by on if thing being asked is _________
self-objectionable
If both options are bad = bad coercive
- ex a robber saying your money or your life
if one option isn’t thought to make you worse off = not coercive
Informed Consent claim w/mandates
- Vaccination is a medical intervention for which there is an ethical and legal requirement to obtain informed consent, which must be given voluntarily
- Mandatory vaccination violates informed consent because the consent is not voluntary
Discrimination claim w/mandates
- Mandatory vaccination imposes restrictions or sanctions on individuals who are unwilling to be vaccinated
- This discriminates against people just because they are unvaccinated
