Professional Judgment is Not Political Authority: Pediatric Ethics and Vaccine Mandates
Abstract
Abstract Roland Pierik and Marcel Verweij’s recent monograph is a rigorously argued and admirably comprehensive defense of vaccine mandates in liberal democratic states. Their book is a welcome and timely contribution, especially in the wake of heightened vaccine skepticism and policy disputes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Even readers who find themselves unconvinced by some aspects of their argument will benefit from the book’s careful exposition of the ethical terrain. That said, I am skeptical about Pierik and Verweij’s use of concepts from the pediatric ethics literature. In particular, I argue that the idea of the harm threshold cannot substantively advance the authors’ core claims about vaccine mandates.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare
Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
Child and Adolescent Health
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Public Health Ethics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Publication date
- 26 March 2026
- Language
- EN