Minors and Vulnerability: the Case of Mandatory Vaccination for Children in Italy

Addressing the issue of vaccines for children is never easy. Law and scientific data matter, but personal convictions, irrational fears and ideological conditioning come into play as well. This topic investigates personal or family choices, different concepts of dignity with the purpose to critically reflect on our idea of democracy in relation to public health policies . According to latest W.H.O official reports, the situation concerning the vaccines for minors is worrying. For example, data collected about the measles infection among children have shown that about 50,000 cases were found in Europe from January until October 2018: It is also to stress that around the same time the number of cases recorded in the whole African continent were more than double. The relationship existing between minors’ condition and the duty of vaccination should lead us to reflect on the fact that the targeted choices of legal politics and institutional interventions - as in the case of vaccines for children- -, should not be determined or sustained by a common way of feeling. Instead, as it happens when dealing with health issues (both private and public) such politics and interventions should rather identify trends - or counter-tendencies – in order to identify appropriate legal instruments for managing complex socio-sanitary dynamics. In terms of minors’ vaccination, the Italian case is characterized by a series of significant institutional interventions. However, regardless of the existing legal and institutional data, the current debate on vaccines taking shape in Italy and in other countries, is related to two chief questions. The first can be summarized as follows: “Are children really vulnerable, chiefly with regard to vaccines?” And the second question could be: “Why and for which reasons should we vaccinate children?”. I will seek to clarify these points through a philosophical and juridical analysis.