The Case for the Vaccine Passport

  • Jocelyn Maclure Department of Philosophy & Jarislowsky Chair in Human Nature and Technology, McGill University, Québec, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7620-821X
  • Keven Bisson Department of Philosophy, McGill University, Québec, Canada
Keywords: vaccine passport, immunization proof,, Covid-19, equality, fairness, public health ethics
Language(s): English

Abstract

In this critical commentary, we address the egalitarian critique according to which the use of a vaccine passport is unethical because it conflicts with the principle of equality, understood as requiring that citizens ought to be treated in the same way. We argue that this criticism is vulnerable to the levelling-down objection often addressed to some egalitarian theories. We add that the vaccine passport is morally justified if two minimal ethical conditions are satisfied: 1) it must be designed as a temporary and transitory public health restriction, and 2) the disparities of treatment it introduces ought to infringe as little as possible upon fundamental rights and should not negate access to essential public services.

Published
2022-03-01
How to Cite
[1]
Maclure J, Bisson K. The Case for the Vaccine Passport. Can. J. Bioeth. 2022;5:128-31. https://doi.org/10.7202/1087211ar.
Section
Critical commentaries