Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 4-30-2021

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Philosophy and Religion

First Advisor

Sarah M. Moses

Second Advisor

Melissa Bass

Third Advisor

Deborah S. Mower

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Throughout history, vaccines have provided the human population with the ability to combat dangerous illnesses and avoid preventable suffering. Despite the benefits vaccines provide to the public health of the United States, anti-vaccination sentiment and resistance to vaccine uptake are still prevalent in the modern day. As the COVID-19 pandemic has developed into a major public health crisis that can be controlled through vaccination, the issues underlying vaccine resistance are becoming more critical to return to normal life. Using COVID-19 as a case study, it is evident that the individual choice to deny vaccination can have consequences on the health of the community.

Various arguments can be made regarding an individual’s obligation to become vaccinated and contribute to the health of society. However, many individuals see the burden of vaccination to be too great, and believe they can remain protected by herd immunity without taking on any individual risk. Individual medical autonomy dictates that people should have the freedom to decide what medical choices they make. However, autonomy has to have limitations when the individual's choices impact public health. In the case of vaccination, when a person decides to not vaccinate, they are choosing to not contribute to the herd immunity that protects their community from disease. Thereby, they are putting individuals who are medically unable to become vaccinated at risk of contracting dangerous diseases. This thesis discusses the moral arguments for why individual autonomy should be limited when public health is at stake, and how autonomy can still be respected through medical professionals educating their patients on vaccines and addressing their concerns.

Accessibility Status

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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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