COVID-19

[NEWS ARTICLES]

Why cities like Boston shouldn’t follow New York’s lead on vaccination passports

Seema Mohapatra, Françoise Baylis, and Natalie Kofler | August 24, 2021

Given how onerous and cost-prohibitive it could be to screen every patron, some businesses might reasonably introduce random checks. There is reason to fear that people of colour will be scrutinized more closely than others.

Exploring the evidence, ethics, and pitfalls around vaccine certificates

Yvette d’Entremont interviews  Françoise Baylis | June 2, 2021

“Everybody who cannot get one of these documents is going to experience a decrease in freedom relative to what others in the population can do,” bioethicist says

 

The challenges confronting young adults in the era of COVID-19 vaccines

Françoise Baylis & Landon Getz | March 12, 2021

A troubling pattern has emerged during this pandemic where the needs and interests of youth and young adults appear to have been set aside. Here are three ways in which young adults are being uniquely affected in terms of access to vaccines, vaccination certificates, and challenge trials.

Dalhousie professor wants Canada to consider sending any excess vaccine to Caribbean

Françoise Baylis | March 12, 2021

‘Why don’t we talk about an equitable plan for the distribution of excess vaccines?’ The federal government should explore sending any excess vaccine supply to places like the Caribbean and Mexico, which are struggling due to a Canadian flight ban.

Who gets the COVID-19 vaccine is about supply – and ethics

Françoise Baylis | February 16, 2021

Many people want to know who in their country will be the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine and where they are on the priority list. I am more interested in who should be the last to get the vaccine, and not only in rich countries that have early access to vaccines, but around the world.

Why federal government should reject human challenge trials for COVID-19 vaccine

Françoise Baylis & Landon Getz | November 17, 2020

Given the number of promising vaccines in conventional Phase 3 trials, the federal government should reject the petition calling on it to “publicly announce a plan for COVID-19 human challenge trials.”

La pandémie de Covid-19 nous offre un miroir grossissant de nos inégalités

Françoise Baylis (propos recueillis par Nathaniel Herzberg) | 3 juin 2020

L’éthicienne et philosophe s’inquiète de l’impact sur notre vie privée de l’instauration d’un passeport immunitaire, alors que personne ne sait comment fonctionne l’immunité face au virus.

Why Canadians should fight tooth and nail against proof-of-immunity passports

Françoise Baylis & Natalie Kofler  | May 7, 2020

So-called immunity passports could create an intolerable biological divide between haves and have-nots.

Canada needs one – not many – clinical triage protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic

Françoise Baylis  | May 1, 2020

Imagine learning that a parent or sibling was denied access to a ventilator on the basis of age or disability, when they would have had access if they lived in a different province, or were at a different healthcare institution in the same province. Access to life-saving treatment should not be determined by geography.