In the name of health and illness: An inquiry into Covid-19 vaccination policy in postsecondary education in Canada (published https://researchandappliedmedicine.com/revistas/vol1/revista6/vacunacion-covid-ingles.pdf)

Abstract

Since the launch of the Covid-19 global vaccination campaign in December of 2020, vaccination in postsecondary institutions has been a contested issue. International evidence indicates that these institutions have achieved high vaccination rates and Canadian public health agencies exclude them entirely from the list of institutions at risk of outbreaks. On the other hand, influential observers, and postsecondary institutions themselves insist that not only achieving, but also maintaining, “up-to-date” vaccination - through mandates if necessary – remains critical to contain the crisis. However, with the increasing recognition that vaccines do not stop viral spread, that young populations are at exceedingly low risk of severe Covid-19, hospitalization, and death - with a survival rate of over 99.98% - and that mandated medical interventions have a troubled history with repercussions to this day, the soundness of current vaccination policies in postsecondary institutions cannot be assumed. Drawing from the medicalization tradition and interpretive phenomenology, our study explores, through in-depth interviews, how vaccination policies within and beyond postsecondary institutions have shaped perceptions of the Covid-19 crisis, beliefs about the role, risks, and benefits of vaccination, and life choices and chances of students in Canada. We find that students largely comply with vaccination policies, whether by conviction, convenience, or coercion, and that the discourse and social practices promoted by the policies limit opportunities for free debate and exchange across vaccination statuses. Regardless of this status, students do resist, albeit very limitedly given the high cost of noncompliance. We discuss the implications of our findings for policy, equity, and for the power of medical social control in the Covid-19 era.

Covid-19 vaccination decisions and impacts of vaccine mandates: A cross sectional survey of healthcare workers in Ontario, Canada

“…There exists, to be sure, ample research on the perceived problem of "suboptimal" vaccine uptake or of vaccine hesitancy among HCWs, in Canada and elsewhere. As has been noted, most of this research, implicitly or explicitly, overwhelmingly endorses full and continuing vaccination for HCWs, if necessary through mandates (Chaufan et al, 2024). And there is little doubt that the policy of mandated vaccination has succeeded in increasing vaccination rates among HCWs (Lee et al, 2022;Poyiadji et al, 2022;Ritter et al, 2021).…”

The politics and ethics of academia in the Covid-19 era: A view from Canada

“…to embrace COVID-19 vaccination, so-called "vaccine hesitancy", cannot be informed by legitimate evidence, and that "in times of crisis" long-standing bioethical principles can, and should, "temporarily" be set asidefor instance, the principle of informed consent, established upon the "Doctors' Trial" in Nuremberg over half a century ago and subsequently upheld by leading international bioethical documents 31,32 . In addition, our research on the vaccination experience of postsecondary students also revealed that the high compliance observed among them has largely been driven by the understandable desire to "move on with life", by the very human emotional need for peer and societal acceptance, and by a nontrivial amount of bending to coercion given the significant material, social, and emotional costs of noncompliance 28 . Troublingly, compliance itself also appears to have borne significant emotional, when not physical, costs 5,17 .…”

Public and patient perspectives on the use of clinical and administrative health data to identify and contact people at risk of future illness—The case of chronic kidney disease

“…The letter of invitation indicates: (a) how the individual was identified, (b) the nature of the organizations involved in the project (ICES and Kidney Care Outreach research team), (c) details about the outreach intervention, (d) how to find out more information and consent to participate, and (e) frequently asked questions. Brochures from the Kidney Foundation are also included in the envelope [12]. Digital copies of the letter and envelope are available as online S2 Appendix.…”