Non-Maleficence, Social Benefit and the Vaccination of Children

Public health policy often involves a trade-off between promoting population health and protecting the interests of identifiable individuals. This paper analyses this trade-off as it arises in the context of decisions about the vaccination of children against Covid-19, where vaccination may be in the interests of society as a whole, as a means to stopping transmission, but not in the interests of individual children. The paper argues that the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation resolved this tension by appeal to a version of a non-maleficence principle. It argues that, while this principle can be a useful guide to some public health policy decision-making, it is inappropriate in the case of vaccination.