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Considering that the people who are adversely affected by a COVID vaccine are not the same as those who might die from the virus... That is not a given. There
by vannevar 5y ago
Considering that the people who are adversely affected by a COVID vaccine are not the same as those who might die from the virus...
That is not a given. There is such an infinitesimally small number of serious adverse vaccine reactions even reported, let alone confirmed, that I don't think any conclusions can yet be drawn about who is likely to have an adverse vaccine reaction. So no, definitely not the trolley problem, where the risk of death is the same (100%) for all potential victims.
- Gibbon1 5y agoAnd define adversely affected. For children there are large numbers of adverse affects beyond death. Like the death of a family member from covid. Isolation from grandparents. There are also positive things like reduced anxiety that comes from vaccination. And prosocial rewards for helping their community.
- low_tech_love 5y agoYes, I should've written "supposing", I guess. But although the number is small, it is probably not zero, and thus I think the philosophical thought exercise remains interesting. The trolley problem doesn't have to be necessarily 5 vs 1; the fact remains that "we" (as a society) take the risk of killing a (small) number of people (who might not have died of the virus otherwise) in order to save another (large) number. Even if one single person ever died due to a vaccine in order to save everyone else, the problem would still remain. If someone dies of covid, it isn't "anyone's fault" so to speak, and there lies the moral problem.