Don’t want a COVID shot? Then here are your obligations

Last week, Johns Hopkins University, already home to a dashboard of COVID-19 case data, rolled out another dashboard that tracks data on COVID-19 behaviors. These dashboards provide a glimpse into how the COVID-19 pandemic is progressing both in the U.S. and globally, shedding light on some of the reasons that more than 50% of unvaccinated people in a survey of 50 countries, including the United States, say they are unlikely to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

As a philosophy professor at San José State University since 2002 whose focus is on the ethical dimensions of science, including how non-scientists interact with scientific information, I understand that people tend to make decisions for specific reasons and that it’s important to understand those reasons, particularly when people are coming to different conclusions than we are. And I value autonomy — the ability to set one’s own goals and pursue them — including bodily autonomy, not just for myself but for you.

I don’t want anyone telling me what to do with my body, and I don’t want to tell anyone else what to do with theirs. However, the limit of this autonomy is the point where what I do with my body impacts your well-being, and where what you do with your body impacts my well-being.

My most immediate pandemic goals include trying to avoid getting COVID-19 or spreading it to someone else. That’s why, as a professor, a parent and a person, I freely and enthusiastically chose to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Because I value other people’s autonomy, I absolutely support other people’s right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they do it responsibly. This means:

• Avoid all contact with people who are unable to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including those with medical conditions that could render the vaccine harmful to them and, for the moment, children under 12.

• Stay away from events and facilities that require vaccination against COVID-19 to access.

• Consistently wear a medical grade, multilayer cloth or KN95 face mask that fits snugly and fully covers your nose and mouth whenever you are indoors with people you don’t live with, and maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet.

• Never misrepresent your vaccination status.

• Stay home and away from other humans whenever you experience anything like a COVID-19 symptom.

Even if you don’t experience anything like a COVID-19 symptom, get regular COVID-19 tests if you are in regular contact with other humans and, if you test positive, isolate yourself to avoid spreading the virus to anyone else.

Do not try to make it hard for others to protect themselves from COVID-19 by opposing masking rules, proof of vaccination requirements, upgrades to air handling systems in schools or other places of business, or paid sick leave and other supports that make it possible for sick people to stay home.

To be sure, these steps I am asking you to take if you don’t get vaccinated may feel like restrictions of your autonomy. They put limits on how you can move through the world. But if we’re only interested in exercising our own autonomy, no matter how much it tramples on the autonomy of others, we have left the realm of ethics and entered the land of selfishness.