By Michael Kowalik. The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 has re-invigorated the debate about the ethical permissibility of vaccine mandates and immunity certification. Public attitudes towards this complex issue are nevertheless dominated by fear, half-truths and ungrounded value-judgements, limiting the scope of rational deliberation in favour of ideological partisanship. My paper, ‘Ethics of Vaccine Refusal’, is […]
Category: Vaccines
Self-experimentation with vaccines
By Jonathan Pugh, Dominic Wilkinson and Julian Savulescu. A group of citizen scientists has launched a non-profit, non-commercial organisation named ‘RaDVaC’, which aims to rapidly develop, produce, and self-administer an intranasally delivered COVID-19 vaccine. As an open source project, a white paper detailing RaDVaC’s vaccine rationale, design, materials, protocols, and testing is freely available online. […]
Altered vaccination schedules and informed consent
By Jennifer O’Neill. According to the General Medical Council (GMC) publication Good Medical Practice, medical treatments should be provided “…based on the best available evidence” with a favourable balance between benefit and risk. Legal principles of informed consent and shared decision-making recognise the patient’s right to be informed of the risk-benefit profile of a treatment […]
Are immunity passports a human rights Issue?
By Julian Savulescu. Imagine you are about to board a plane. Authorities have reason to believe you are carrying a loaded gun. They are entitled to detain you. But they are obliged to investigate whether you have a gun. And if you are not carrying a gun, they are obliged to free you and allow […]
Apology, exposing the past key to black Americans embracing COVID-19 vaccines, American medicine?
By Doug Wojcieszak. Recent racial unrest has made many Americans — including the medical community — reflect on our nation’s racial history. The pandemic and our hopes for the COVID-19 vaccines, however, should make the medical community reflect deeper on the history of Black Americans and American medicine and how the future can be different. […]
The COVID-19 vaccine, informed consent and the recruitment of volunteers
By Jennifer O’Neill. Last week, in an announcement which offered hope in a time of growing despondence, Pfizer declared that their COVID-19 vaccine had “outperformed expectations in the crucial phase 3 clinical trials, proving 90% effective in stopping people falling ill.” If approved, Pfizer’s jab will be the first in a new era of vaccines. […]