The ethics of mandatory vaccinations : tensions between global public health imperatives and individual freedoms

Abstract

Salus populi suprema lex esto (the health of the people should be the supreme law), the often-quoted Cicero saying, embodies the classic tension between public health imperatives and individual freedom. This tension has been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has posed complicated legal, ethical, and enforcement dilemmas. Pandemic mandates have implications on human rights at the individual and public levels. Moreover, pandemic mandates impact politics, finance, and religious rituals.