The Ethics and Public Acceptability of Mandates

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter evaluates efforts to eliminate nonmedical exemptions to school entry vaccinate mandates from an ethical and pragmatic standpoint. It examines three arguments that critics often raise against coercive vaccine mandates for daycare or school: parents’ rights, informed consent, and children’s rights to care and education. Then it evaluates four arguments that proponents offer in defense of such policies: children’s right to receive vaccines, preventing disease transmission, the duty to contribute to herd immunity, and the overall social benefits associated with high rates of vaccination. Finally, it expresses skepticism about the potential for today’s coercive vaccine mandates to eradicate or eliminate disease (or even to achieve stable disease control). Accordingly, today’s vaccine mandates need to be justified by their short-term and often more moderate benefits, and their potential harms must be given greater comparative weight.