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For a vaccine to be effective only one person needs to take it. That person gets immunity and thus it's effective. Secondly, according to your interpretation o
by fleitz 16y ago
For a vaccine to be effective only one person needs to take it. That person gets immunity and thus it's effective.
Secondly, according to your interpretation of Kant's categorical imperative it's perfectly ethical for no one to get vaccinated because everyone can act in that way. You may not like the outcome, but your gedankenexperiment satisfies the categorical imperative because everyone holds the belief and thus it is ethical.
Kant's categorical imperative is merely a way for a large percentage of the population to force their ethics on others. Largely because the primary way it is used is to justify policies rather than have policies stem from it. Since not everyone can agree that everyone should be vaccinated policies to vaccinate everyone are unethical according to Kant.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- barendt 16y agoFor a vaccine to be effective only one person needs to take it. That person gets immunity and thus it's effective. That's not always true. Even good vaccines aren't 100% effective, so a vaccinated person exposed to a pathogen can still get sick, it's just less likely. Also, it's important to remember there are some populations who either can't be vaccinated (e.g. children too young for attenuated, live virus vaccines) or for whom the immunity induced by a vaccine may not be robust enough (e.g. the elderly) who still require herd immunity even if they've already chosen to be immunized.
- ugh 16y agoCertain people can’t be vaccinated (e.g. babies), they have to rely on herd immunity.
- infinite8s 16y agoWell, if the mother was exposed to either the disease or the vaccine, and she is breastfeeding the baby, then the baby will have protection (another strong argument in favor of breastfeeding babies) until they are old enough for the vaccine.
- cubulgaria 16y agoPlease provide references. Last I read in the literature there was only some immunity provided. Not every mom can breastfeed. Not every mom can breastfeed enough to constantly transfer antibodies. Not every mom who breastfeeds may have antibodies to the given illness.