Three Harm-Based Arguments for a Moral Obligation to Vaccinate

Ivanković, Viktor; Savić, Lovro

doi:10.1007/s10728-021-00437-x

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Third, given that the link between not getting vaccinated and directly harming others is tenuous at best, the case for a moral obligation to get vaccinated is weak to the extent that such an obligation would be grounded in the obligation to avoid harm to others (Ivanković and Savić 2021 ). If harm to others cannot concretely be averted by getting vaccinated, then it difficult to see why one should nevertheless have a moral obligation to get vaccinated based explicitly on a duty to avoid harm to others.…”

Section: Ethical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ethical Significance of Post-Vaccination COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics

Kraaijeveld

2022

Bioethical Inquiry

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The potential for vaccines to prevent the spread of infectious diseases is crucial for vaccination policy and ethics. In this paper, I discuss recent evidence that the current COVID-19 vaccines have only a modest and short-lived effect on reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission and argue that this has at least four important ethical implications. First, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 should be seen primarily as a self-protective choice for individuals. Second, moral condemnation of unvaccinated people for causing direct harm to others is unjustified. Third, the case for a harm-based moral obligation to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is weak. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, coercive COVID-19 vaccination policies (e.g., measures that exclude unvaccinated people from society) cannot be directly justified by the harm principle.

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Section: Ethical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ethical Significance of Post-Vaccination COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics

Kraaijeveld

2022

Bioethical Inquiry

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“…Therefore, rather than approach other-directed vaccination by establishing putative moral duties, we develop a scalar consequentialist account that recognizes the strength of moral reasons to get vaccinated in view of the central moral good of vaccination, which is to prevent or reduce the chances of causing serious harm to others. In other words, when it comes to the morality of vaccination, harm is the chief moral principle at stake (Ivanković and Savić 2021 ). Our reasons-based account therefore focuses on the harm-based grounds for moral claims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Scalar Approach to Vaccination Ethics

Kraaijeveld,

Gur-Arie,

Jamrozik

2023

J Ethics

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Should people get vaccinated for the sake of others? What could ground—and limit—the normative claim that people ought to do so? In this paper, we propose a reasons-based consequentialist account of vaccination for the benefit of others. We outline eight harm-based and probabilistic factors that, we argue, give people moral reasons to get vaccinated. Instead of understanding other-directed vaccination in terms of binary moral duties (i.e., where people either have or do not have a moral duty to get vaccinated), we develop a scalar approach according to which people can have stronger or weaker moral reasons to get vaccinated in view of the moral good of vaccination. One advantage of our approach is that it can capture why a person might have strong moral reasons to get vaccinated with Vaccine A, but only weak moral reasons to get vaccinated with Vaccine B. We discuss theoretical strengths of our approach and provide a case study of vaccination against COVID-19 to demonstrate its practical significance.

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“…Third, given that the link between not getting vaccinated and directly harming others is tenuous at best, the case for a moral obligation to get vaccinated is weak to the extent that such an obligation would be grounded in the obligation to avoid harm to others (Ivanković and Savić 2021). If harm to others cannot concretely be averted by getting vaccinated, then it difficult to see why one should nevertheless have a moral obligation to get vaccinated based explicitly on a duty to avoid harm to others.…”

Section: Ethical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Verweij (2005), for instance, individuals have a moral obligation to take necessary precautions against infection to avoid infecting others, which may entail getting vaccinated. Others have also emphasized the primacy of harm avoidance when it comes to moral duties to get vaccinated (Ivanković and Savić 2021). Harm-based arguments for vaccination duties are often applied to specific populations, for example people who work with vulnerable members of society (e.g., Van Delden et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, rather than approach other-directed vaccination by establishing putative moral duties, we develop a scalar consequentialist account that recognizes the strength of moral reasons to get vaccinated in order to achieve the central moral good of vaccination, which is to prevent or reduce the chances of causing serious harm to others. In other words, when it comes to the morality of vaccination, harm is the chief moral principle at stake (Ivanković and Savić 2021). Our reasons-based account therefore focuses on the harm-based grounds for moral claims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On the concept and ethics of vaccination for the sake of others

Kraaijeveld¹

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Three Harm-Based Arguments for a Moral Obligation to Vaccinate

Cited by 5 publications

References 24 publications

The Ethical Significance of Post-Vaccination COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics

The Ethical Significance of Post-Vaccination COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics

A Scalar Approach to Vaccination Ethics

On the concept and ethics of vaccination for the sake of others

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