The Obligation of Mass Vaccination of the Population Against Covid-19: from the Basis of Legislative Regulation to the Problems of Implementing Human Rights and Attempts to Overcome them

In the context of the rapid spread of a new coronavirus infection, one of the effective ways to combat an infectious disease is mass vaccination of the population, carried out as part of anti-epidemic measures, which today have divided society into supporters and opponents of mandatory vaccination. In the course of the study, the author analyzed the arguments of each of the warring parties, identified the features of vaccination as a type of medical intervention, identified problematic aspects that affect the effectiveness of the implementation of human and civil rights, both on health protection and other rights. The researcher paid special attention to the problem of legislative contradictions that existed after the introduction of amendments to certain normative legal acts, and also drew attention to the insufficient elaboration of the restrictive measures introduced in the city of Moscow and the Moscow region. The researcher identified the following as suggestions for solving the discovered problems: 1) since mass vaccination is actually an experimental test of vaccines, it is important to ask the population for consent to participate in the experiments; 2) without interfering with the editorial policy of the media, it is necessary to exclude the broadcasting of clearly inaccurate information about the situation with COVID-19 and vaccination; 3) within the framework of an information campaign on legal education, explain that the employer does not have the right to independently suspend an employee from work, provided that there is no separate indication of this in the decisions of sanitary doctors; 4) amendments should be made to the legislation on immunization to eliminate the existing contradictions; 5) when introducing restrictive measures, it is necessary to study their further impact on human rights.

COVID-19, Health law, communicable diseases, COVID-19, coronavirus infection, vaccine prophylaxis, vaccine trial, compulsory vaccination, human rights, health protection, gaps in legislation, enforcement challenges