Vaccination of children in a pandemic situation: the legal facets of the possible

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Author: Alexander Smolanov

DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2024-2-140-166

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; vaccination; mandatory vaccination of children and adolescents; proportionality

Abstract

The article attempts to resolve the issue of the constitutionality of a mandatory vaccination regime for children and adolescents against dangerous diseases (using coronavirus as an example) by using an interdisciplinary approach. Data from immunology and biology are analyzed, which may have an impact on the constitutional and legal assessment of a vaccination regime. The risks of using vaccines with varying degrees of effectiveness and verified safety for humans to prevent a pandemic are being assessed. In search of a balance between individual interests and the interests of society, the consequences of limiting the rights of individuals during mandatory vaccination against infectious diseases are revealed. In an attempt to discover a legal remedy that meets the test of proportionality, an empirical study is conducted and statistically supported results are discussed showing the inadequacy of the voluntary vaccination model for achieving herd immunity in situations where experimental vaccines are used. The tendency of citizens to vaccinate children against dangerous diseases (even with experimental vaccines) in the presence of the coercive power of the state has been discovered. However, it has been noted that incentives for vaccination on the part of the state can be expressed not only in the form of a promise of sanctions, but also, for example, in the form of the use of less invasive methods that involve much less interference with personal rights: for example, educating the population on immunization issues and conducting accessible information campaigns. Establishing the real effectiveness of these methods is the task of the next stages of research. As a result, it was concluded that the compulsory vaccination regime (in the form that allows us to model the current legal regulation) does not meet the criteria of constitutional admissibility due to excessive restrictions on the rights of individuals.

About the author: Alexander Smolanov – Ph.D. Student, Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law, Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Smolanov A. (2024) Vaktsinatsiya detey v situatsii pandemii: pravovye grani vozmozhnogo [Vaccination of children in a pandemic situation: the legal facets of the possible]. Sravnitel'noe konstitu­tsionnoe obozrenie, vol.33, no.2, pp.140–166. (In Russian).

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