Prof Aisling McMahon (Maynooth University) has published a timely co-authored article with Professor Emma Cave (Durham University) in the Medical Law Review entitled “Should states restrict recipient choice amongst relevant and available COVID-19 vaccines?”. This article considers the policy justifications for State controls on recipients’ choice amongst COVID-19 vaccine brands, at various points in the pandemic, focusing on European countries and drawing in particular on the UK context as an example. In doing so, the article contrasts justifications for not offering choice amongst COVID-19 vaccines at the height of the early pandemic crisis, and as some states seek to de-escalate their response and transition towards living with COVID-19 policies The article argues that in the latter context public expectations of choice amongst available vaccine brands and platforms may rise, but that several considerations may justify continued restrictions on choice. It argues that a key factor which states should continue to take into consideration is the global nature of the pandemic, and that insofar as offering recipient choice at a national level might exacerbate global inequity in vaccine distribution, states retain a normative and legal justification for restricting choice amongst available and clinically suitable vaccine brands.
The full article is published open access and is freely available to read here. It is currently on the Medical Law Review’s Most Read article list.