Warring Autonomies: Vaccine Mandates for Healthcare Workers and the
Competing Rights of Patient and Healthcare Worker Autonomy in Pandemic
Policy
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic brought to the fore tensions between the rights
of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the patients they care for. Nowhere are
these tensions more evident than in debates over the right to autonomy
and whether these rights allow HCWs to refuse vaccination. In the
following, I argue that while both parties have a right to autonomy, the
patients right to autonomy generally overrides that of the HCW. Still,
the patient’s rights do not necessarily entail that HCWs possess a duty
to be vaccinated. Instead, it entails that HCWs take reasonable actions
to respect the autonomy of the patients.