COVID-19 vaccine mandates have come and mostly gone in the US – an ethicist explains why their messy rollout matters for trust in public health

Vaccine policies fall on a spectrum, from mandates to recommendations. Deciding what to use and when is not so much a science but a balancing act between personal autonomy and public good.

Rachel Gur-Arie, Assistant Professor of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University • conversation
Oct. 18, 2023 • ~9 min

Emotion is a big part of how you assess risk – and why it's so hard to be objective about pandemic precautions

How you respond to a risk depends on how you weigh the costs and benefits of an action. The problem is you’re not just a logical computer, and emotions bias your interpretation of the facts.

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Professor of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • conversation
Aug. 12, 2021 • ~9 min

People gave up on flu pandemic measures a century ago when they tired of them – and paid a price

Americans were tired of social distancing and mask-wearing. At the first hint the virus was receding, people pushed to get life back to normal. Unfortunately another surge of the disease followed.

J. Alexander Navarro, Assistant Director of the Center for the History of Medicine, University of Michigan • conversation
March 23, 2021 • ~9 min

Coronavirus: why you need to wear a face mask in France, but not in the UK

There are two principles governments use to make public health decisions, and on mask-wearing they're in direct conflict.

Fiona McDonald, Co-Director of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology • conversation
May 5, 2020 • ~7 min

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