Essay Sample on The Ethics of Vaccine Mandates

Is it ethical to force another human to do something? Is it ethical to force an entire population to take a specific action? The most memorable examples of this taking place historically are definitely unethical; labor camps in the 40s, or native-Americans being forced to take ‘Christian names’, segregation of classrooms, etc. All the previously mentioned are obviously unethical practices and events in history. But if the specific action was genuinely for the good of the public without harming a smaller population in exchange, would it become ethical? Specifically, is making vaccination compulsory the right thing to do in the case of NOVA community college? Not exactly, that is if you take into consideration the status of vaccination globally.

Obviously, the vaccine works, there is no debating the efficacy of the vaccine against covid. And the argument of getting vaccinated for the health of the public is solid. And getting a shot with very little side effects to improve the health of your community is a clear morally good choice. However, the ethical superiority of being vaccinated partially stems from the option to not be vaccinated. This isn’t to say that it is completely unethical to force someone to get the vaccine, but if you subscribe to Kant’s ideas on what constitutes the value of a good will, “The value of a good will thus cannot be that it secures certain valuable ends, whether of our own or of others, since their value is entirely conditional on our possessing and maintaining a good will.” (Johnson). While this wouldn’t necessarily imply that it is unethical to mandate a vaccine, it could not be the option of the highest moral value.  

This sorts out that a mandate is not the ethically superior choice, but to demonstrate why it may be the unethical course of action I need to shift focus globally. Currently the percentage people who have received the vaccine is very low, not just in the US but in “huge swaths of the world” and that “Scientists are concerned that wealthy countries rush to provide more boosters in the face of Omicron will exacerbate the global vaccine imbalance” (Khan) according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. A mandate would increase the number of US persons seeking a vaccine which could provide a strain on resources available for the aid of less developed countries. At this point mandating vaccines, resulting in increased consumption of a resource that could benefit those with worse medical infrastructure, becomes the unethical choice. This is also supported by a direct quote from Immanuel Kant from his formulation of the Categorical Imperative “I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law” (Johnson) and being that a vaccine mandate could not currently be a universal law, because not everyone is capable of compliance, it cannot be considered a moral duty. Additionally, it is important to consider increasing vaccine and booster use in more developed countries could encourage further mutation of the virus by prolonging the existence of regions without a base vaccination maintaining the vaccine imbalance that “many health researchers believe contributed to Omicron's emergence and rapid spread” (Khan) .

The correct course of action in the case of NOVA and the US in general at this time should be to continue educating the public about the vaccine to hopefully assuage any fears keeping the less steadfast members of the anti-vax crowd from getting vaccinated, but not to force vaccination. If there is an increased concern in outbreaks in class, NOVA should offer an alternative of online only classes to any unvaccinated students, maybe at a somewhat discounted rate to encourage compliance with staying out of the classroom and maintain the availability of in person learning to the vaccinated student population. This option still encourages vaccination in a way that might help ease the strain on existing supplies, while maintaining the principle of bodily autonomy within the student body as well as not withholding a public education from the students. However private institutions and businesses should still be free to implement whatever vaccination policy they see fit, which may seem less fair or potentially dangerous, but in the current social climate places like universities likely wouldn’t aim to be the odd institution out by going softer on vaccine policy than the public regulation, with exception to Florida. The other half of the defense of this policy for privately held buildings is largely legalistic, which is of no concern for this paper. 

Ultimately the ethics of a vaccine mandate, or any medical mandate, are a complicated issue. However due to the ultimate right of bodily autonomy and added considerations to global health and the availability of vaccines outside of our local area, mandated COVID vaccines in the United States is not the morally just course of action. If, after the larger population of the world gains sufficient access to the vaccine and the percentage of vaccinated peoples remains “abysmally low”, this position should be assessed and adjusted accordingly, likely in favor of a mandate, and potentially international vaccine education to hopefully change the minds of vaccine holdouts globally as well as domestically.