The vaccination case in ethics has been a matter of heated discussion recently because many people refuse to get a vaccine for themselves or their children. Giubilini et al. (2018) believe that the primary reason why people reject this form of medical treatment is their skepticism regarding the efficacy or safety of various vaccines. However, vaccination is associated not only with personal purposes but also with collective responsibility deriving from herd immunity. It can only be achieved when a sufficient number of people in a particular population is immune, meaning that high refusal rates may compromise herd immunity and lead to dangerous consequences (Giubilini et al., 2018). The utilitarian approach suggests that the moral value of an action depends on its utility, meaning that people’s moral obligations are based on utility maximization (Giubilini et al., 2018). Thus, utilitarianism justifies vaccination from the ethical viewpoint because of the contribution that herd immunity makes to the collective good.
Such an approach may be problematic for parents since they also have a moral obligation to act according to the best interests of their child. Sometimes vaccinating children may not correlate with those interests, which is why parents may choose not to vaccinate their child. For instance, parents may decide not to vaccinate their healthy child against some diseases which are not dangerous for them to avoid the vaccine’s side effects and the corresponding risks (Giubilini et al., 2018). That decision can significantly affect other people since it disrupts herd immunity, and parents may be held morally responsible and accountable in case of an infectious outbreak. Parents may not even consider the risks of their child getting that particular disease if they want to prevent adverse reactions of the child’s organism to the vaccine. Thus, parents will adhere to the moral obligations they deem appropriate for their children’s best interests.
Reference
Giubilini, A., Douglas, T., & Savulescu, J. (2018). The moral obligation to be vaccinated: Utilitarianism, contractualism, and collective easy rescue. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 21(4), 547-560. Web.