Informed Consent to Vaccination: Theoretical, Legal, and Empirical Insights

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Bioethics
• Health Law

Background:

• Informed consent is crucial for public health initiatives like vaccination.
• Ensuring autonomous decision-making in vaccination is ethically and legally significant.
• Vaccine hesitancy presents challenges to achieving high vaccination rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define an ideal informed consent process for vaccinations.
• To evaluate existing informed consent frameworks in Israel and the United States against this ideal.
• To identify areas for improvement in vaccine consent procedures.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of informed consent theory and vaccination practices.
• Analysis of legal frameworks for vaccine consent in Israel and the US.
• Comparative assessment of health authority conceptualizations of informed consent for vaccines.

Main Results:

• Neither the Israeli nor the US informed consent process fully aligns with the ideal model for vaccination.
• Current processes may not consistently provide full, accessible information or prevent coercion.
• Both countries face challenges in addressing parental concerns and misconceptions effectively.

Conclusions:

• Improvements are needed in vaccine consent materials and processes in both Israel and the US.
• Enhancing information accessibility and addressing vaccine hesitancy are key.
• Striving for an ideal informed consent process can bolster public trust and vaccination uptake.