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Vaccines, Germs, and Knowledge
Philosophy World Democracy
To provide a rational assessment of COVID-19 vaccines, we take a step back on both the history of this practice and the current theories in immunology.
Abstract
Vaccines for COVID-19 have led to questions, debates, and polemics on both their safety and the political and geopolitical dimension of their use. We propose to take a step back on both the history of this practice and how current theories in immunology understand it. Both can contribute to providing a rational assessment of COVID-19 vaccines. This assessment cannot consider vaccine as an isolated procedure, and we discuss its intergradation with the broader question of knowledge and politics in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: epistemology, immunology, politics