Vaccination ethics

Introduction or background

Vaccination decisions and policies present tensions between individual rights and the moral
duty to contribute to harm prevention. This article focuses on ethical issues around
vaccination behaviour and policies. It will not cover ethical issues around vaccination
research.

Sources of data

Literature on ethics of vaccination decisions and policies.

Areas of agreement

Individuals have a moral responsibility to vaccinate, at least against certain infectious
diseases in certain circumstances.

Areas of controversy

Some argue that non-coercive measures are ethically preferable unless there are situations of
emergency. Others hold that coercive measures are ethically justified even in absence of
emergencies.

Growing points

Conscientious objection to vaccination is becoming a major area of discussion

Areas timely for developing research

The relationship between individual, collective and institutional responsibilities to contribute
to the public good of herd immunity will be a major point of discussion, particularly with
regard to the COVID-19 vaccine.