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Please see the invitation for the event below.
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From: McGill Research Group on Health and Law <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, October 29, 2021 at 11:11 AM
Subject: Event of interest: “The Swiss vaccination enigma: Between Panacea, Federalism, and Skepticism” , November 1st
Please join us for the first McGill Research Group on Health and Law (RGHL) seminar of the year delivered by Professor Mélanie Levy, Assistant Professor at
the Faculty of Law and co-director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Her talk will be entitled “The Swiss vaccination enigma: Between Panacea,
Federalism, and Skepticism”
The event will be held Monday, November 1st, 2021,
from 1:00-2:30PM, on Zoom.
Une attestation de participation sera émise sur demande aux membres du Barreau du Québec et de la Chambre des notaires.
Registration required. Please kindly confirm your attendance by filling out this
form. A Zoom link will be sent to you ahead of the talk
Abstract:
The Swiss vaccination enigma: between panacea, federalism, and skepticism
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed systemic, institutional, and legal obstacles and inefficiencies in Switzerland’s
public health system. Partly due to federalism and the lack of digitalization, the rollout of Swiss vaccination programs in early 2021 was slow and error prone. Now, vaccine skepticism in a significant part of the Swiss population jeopardizes the return to
a life without restrictions. This phenomenon raises the question of incentives to promote vaccination and increase individuals’ willingness to get vaccinated. So far, Switzerland has been cautious in this area, compared to other countries. Possible tools range
from vaccine mandates, at least for specific professions, to financial incentives and indirect mechanisms, such as COVID certificates that allow vaccinated and tested individuals to access public venues and services (e.g., restaurant, airplane, university
campus). The dichotomy between public health and individual liberty points to solidarity as a normative principle to address the frictions within Swiss society regarding vaccination. Finally, the principle of solidarity highlights Switzerland’s international
obligations in the context of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the hitherto inequitable distribution of vaccines.
Biography:
MÉLANIE LEVY is an assistant professor at the Faculty
of Law and co-director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. She is currently directing a research group financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation on the topic “The Increasing Weight of Regulation: The Role(s) of
Law as a Public Health Tool in the Prevention State”. Mélanie Levy is also an adjunct lecturer at the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University.
Mélanie Levy obtained her LL.M. from Cambridge University and her Ph.D. in Law from the University of Neuchâtel. She then pursued postdocs with the McGill Research
Group on Health and Law and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Tel Aviv University. Melanie Levy’s research interests lie at the intersection of law, medicine, technology, and society. Her latest work includes papers on "The rise of the Swiss regulatory
healthcare state: On preserving the just in the quest for the better (or less expensive?)" and "Surrogacy and parenthood: a European saga of genetic essentialism and gender discrimination".
McGill Research Group on Health and Law | Groupe de recherche en santé et droit de McGill
Faculty of Law, McGill University | Faculté de droit, Université McGill
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Montréal, Québec H3A 1W9
_________________________________
Research Group on Health and Law
Faculty of Law, McGill University