This open access book discusses individual collective and institutional responsibilities with
regard to vaccination from the perspective of philosophy and public health ethics. It addresses
the issue of what it means for a collective to be morally responsible for the realisation of
herd immunity and what the implications of collective responsibility are for individual and
institutional responsibilities.The first chapter introduces some key concepts in the
vaccination debate such as 'herd immunity' 'public goods' and 'vaccine refusal' and
explains why failure to vaccinate raises certain ethical issues. The second chapter analyses
from a philosophical perspective the relationship between individual collective and
institutional responsibilities with regard to the realisation of herd immunity. The third
chapter is about the principle of least restrictive alternative in public health ethics and its
implications for vaccination policies. Finally the fourth chapter presents an ethical argument
for unqualified compulsory vaccination i.e. for compulsory vaccination that does not allow for
any conscientious objection. The book will appeal to philosophers interested in public health
ethics and the general public interested in the philosophical underpinning of different
arguments about our moral obligations with regard to vaccination.
