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Article
Legal Underpinnings of the Great Vaccine Debate of 2025
James G. Hodge Jr.
53 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 171 (2025)
 
Open Access

Abstract:

Multiple factors aligning in 2025 implicate challenges to vaccines as a primary public health tool. Anti-vaccine proponents seek to recast immunization policies in promotion of perceived individual liberties. Recalibrating national vaccine approaches, however, runs counter to long-standing public health laws and policies grounded in a core truth: safe and effective vaccines save lives. As discussed herein, the significant possibility of a national vaccine overhaul led by the federal government necessitates manifold legal arguments, maneuvers, and options to obviate predictable reductions in life expectancies and rises in morbidity.
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