How a Black Bioethicist Makes the Case for Vaccination to People of Color

February 16, 2021

(Vox) – Covid-19 vaccines are becoming available, but not everyone wants to get a shot. Which raises a fraught question: Should it be up to each individual to decide whether or not to get vaccinated against a disease that poses a real threat to public health? Or do we all have a moral obligation to get vaccinated?  This has been a long-running debate among ethicists since well before the coronavirus pandemic. Some philosophers argue that everyone has a moral obligation to be vaccinated against infectious diseases like measles, while others say it’s not so simple. It’s a debate that gets at fundamental questions about individual liberty, bodily autonomy, and communal obligation.