Vaccine tyranny? Covid vaccine controversies rage on

At the time of writing, Westminster has just dropped its ‘vaccination passport’ plans for crowded venues in England, [1] but has rolled out a voluntary vaccination programme for twelve to 15-year-olds. [2] Meanwhile, vaccine passports will be introduced in Scotland from 1 October, [3] and Westminster’s ruling that all care home workers must be fully vaccinated by 11 November is still in place. Workers who are not exempt needed to have their first dose by 16 September to be fully protected in time. [4]

In addition to these statutory plans, some universities, airlines and businesses are starting to make vaccination a condition for education, employment and social interaction. [5]While many of those at greatest risk from the coronavirus remain, understandably, anxious about restrictions easing even as hospital admissions continue to rise, [6] others are urging governments to help us move to a phase of learning to live with the virus responsibly.

In a culture that sets a high value on personal autonomy, it was heartening to see how readily we obeyed the ‘Stay home’ mandate in March 2020. However, there is a growing sense that the Government is now overstepping the boundaries of what is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public. Concerning the vaccine rollout for children, for example, the risk vs reward data remains unclear, [7] and many are concerned that we are putting our children at risk for the sake of adults. [8] The fact that children deemed ‘Gillick competent’ can overrule their parents’ decision on the vaccine [9] has also raised concerns. [10]

Fear, mistrust and an overload of complex information make it very hard for anyone to see the intricacies of the vaccine debate clearly, and the harder the Government pushes, the more entrenched resistance is likely to become. Meanwhile, across the world, millions are still waiting for access to the vaccine, while the UK and US are throwing away hundreds of thousands of expired doses. [11] With the autumn booster jab programme already starting, [12] Covid vaccines look set to be a contentious issue for quite some time.