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Review
. 2021;6(1):27.
doi: 10.1186/s41231-021-00104-2. Epub 2021 Dec 4.

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: a human enhancement story

Niklas Alexander Döbler  1   2   3 , Claus-Christian Carbon  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: a human enhancement story

Niklas Alexander Döbler et al. Transl Med Commun. 2021.

Abstract

Background: Vaccination is an essential strategy for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides its significance as a public health measure, vaccination is a sophisticated example of modern biotechnology. Since vaccination gives the human body an ability that it does not naturally possess, the question arises as to its classification as Human Enhancement.

Main body: Exemplified on a selection of different definitions, we conclude that vaccinations may indeed be classified and treated as a form of Human Enhancement. This raises some ethical issues that are notorious in the broad field of Human Enhancement. A study with N = 67 participants revealed that vaccinations are perceived neither as a clear nor poor example of Human Enhancement.

Conclusion: We argue that qualifying vaccination technology as Human Enhancement does not provide convincing arguments to reject vaccination. By examining the Human Enhancement debate and the similarities to the issue of vaccination shown here, policymakers can learn valuable lessons regarding mass vaccination programs' current and future handling.

Keywords: Ethics; Human enhancement; Pandemic; Policy making; Politics; Psychology; Public Health; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Ratings on the Prestented Examples. Orange bars represent 95%CIs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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