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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

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COVID Vaccine Etiquette: What’s OK to ask — at Home, Work and Beyond

Charles Binkley, director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, quoted in The Mercury News.

In a recent magazine piece he co-authored, Charles Binkley, director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, argues that churches should require congregants to be inoculated, writing that “churches have an ethical obligation to protect the health of clergy, staff and worshipers. ...It is morally irresponsible for churches to invite people to worship and receive the sacraments without taking all effective steps to minimize the risk.”

Binkley thinks the same rule could apply to the airline industry, noting that “there’s no ethical obligation to fly someone,” should they decline the vaccine. And companies will be able to require employees to get the vaccine. But, he thinks, companies mandating vaccination should use termination as a last resort for employees who refuse to get a shot.

Charles Binkley, director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, quoted in The Mercury News.

Ethics
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Rick Bowmer/AP Photo