Question

In what circumstances would it be justifiable to compel vaccination against a newly emergent pathogen, e.g., an especially virulent coronavirus, through mandates and criminalization? Discuss ethical, health, & social issues.

Answer 1

Vaccination is to protect us from the disease that can be erupt in future within body or protect from disease emerging in our surrounding. It gives us acquired immunity to fight against pathogen. It is somehow up to the personal decision to take vaccination or not until your illness is not harmful for the society and it remain to you only or it is not lethal.

Vaccination made it possible to abolish many diseases like polio and smallpox. Vaccination is the duty of all people to perform for self and for society.

In US, state policies mandate certain immunization like school entry requirement and the first school entry requirement was enacted in 1850 to prevent smallpox. Federal and state put efforts to eradicate measles in 1960 and 1970. By the 1990 all the states of USA required all the school children to receive certain vaccination.

Ethical issues arise when such mandate is imposed on the general public. Because there are possibility that some members and society of nation disagree with the imposition because of their religious or personal belief. Vaccine regulation also infringe upon the freedom and liberty. This situation give rise to conflict when public uses their constitutional right to protect their stand.

All 50 states of America allow vaccination exemptions to address individuals belief and their concerns and out of them 48 allow religious exemption.

But with respect to pathogen like "Corona" which give rise to deadly disease that leads to death and spread at rapid rate required some sort of imposition. There might me some ethical issue as we discussed above or some other new can arises but some time to control the situation and save the mankind such strong step needs to be taken.

Before condition become worst controlling through criminalization is also justifiable because personal ethics and value is not the supreme than life. But compelling for vaccination through criminalization must not overlook the issue of access to the vaccine.

Many vaccines related ethical debates came to the light, evidence that access to the vaccination depends on the socioeconomic and minority factor. That give rise to the question that whether all the lives is equal value or not. Many time vaccine shortage has taken place in history and possibility is greater in the case of high contaminate disease like Corona because everyone wants to take it at the earliest. Corona erupted suddenly and not prevailing for long time and this virus is not giving enough time to wait for the vaccination to reach at your door like AIDS that gives enough time to tackle situation (if vaccination were available).

In this condition of Corona, it would also very difficult to produce vaccine at large scale that can cater the need of 7 billion population of the world. So deciding the imposition of criminalization and regulating according to law to track actual culprit is not practical.

But yes making it mandatory at limited imposition would work good.