COVID-19 and Compulsory Vaccination: An Acceptable Form of Coercion?
Abstract
The paper considers whether the British Government could make receiving a COVID-19 vaccine effectively legally mandatory. After considering the position in English law, it considers the ethical position regarding involuntary vaccination, and concludes that while there is no legal impediment to such a requirement, it is ethically unsound.
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In a medical setting, the law typically reflects clinical ethical principles, such as the common law's emphasis on individual autonomy and consent to bodily interference reflecting respect for persons.
“In a medical setting, the law typically reflects clinical ethical principles. For example, the common law's emphasis on individual autonomy and consent to bodily interference reflects the ethical principle of respect for persons (Hurford 2022).”
From Ethical Principles in Legal Context: Vaccine Mandates During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia (2026) · cites this paper as Hurford 2022
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- Authors
- Hurford, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Independent Researcher, London, UK
- Corresponding author
- Hurford, James E.
- Venue
- The New Bioethics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-12-14
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-26
- ISSN
- 2050-2877 (ISSN-L)
- 2050-2885
- OpenAlex
- W4200063892
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 2.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The New Bioethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical and Health Sciences Research
- Keywords
- COVID-19 vaccination, mandatory vaccination, legal coercion, vaccine ethics, English law, public health law
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccines, Coercion, Humans, Vaccination
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