COVID-19 Vaccine Passports: Derogating Non-Derogable Fundamental Human Rights?

The global fervor to develop and deliver a vaccine to protect people against COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been extraordinary. COVID-19 vaccine development has been pursued at an unprecedented speed and scale; following the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of a number of COVID-19 vaccines, rapid mass vaccination deployment efforts commenced in all earnest. This fervor to get a needle into every arm as soon as possible has now led to discussions about making a COVID-19 vaccine compulsory and implementing vaccine passports. Many are calling for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations of all adults and children to be implemented by both state and non-state actors, such as schools, colleges, private employers, airlines, cruise ships, sport stadiums, concert venues, shopping malls and others. With an increase in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, an important question that arises is whether obligatory COVID-19 vaccination policies are ethical and legal in terms of international human rights norms and standards. The many ethical issues that arise call for putting aside differences and collectively reflecting on ethically acceptable solutions. A bioethics and ethics of science and technology perspective, rooted in human rights, should play a key role in the context of this challenging pandemic. In terms of prevailing public international law and the law of nations it is unlawful for any government to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory or to allow non-state actors to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory and to derogate the non-derogable fundamental human right to freedom from medical or scientific experimentation without free consent.