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Not allowing religious exemptions to vaccines is perceived as discriminatory
No major faith explicitly opposes vaccinations. On the contrary, all major faiths in the U.K. have urged their followers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Nonetheless, several concerns about vaccinations have been identified that arise from religious considerations. These concerns can be divided into four groups.
Although religiosity is not consistently associated with higher vaccine hesitancy when conducting international comparisons, there is tentative evidence that vaccine hesitancy is greater among the religious in an American sample. Vaccination rates are also particularly low among some fundamentalist religious communities around the world.
This theme claims that vaccines are discriminatory to those with religious beliefs, relating it to medical malfeasance. Arguments often claim that religious exemptions to vaccination must be honoured.
People’s religious convictions must be respected and it is understandable to want them to be taken into account when making decisions about their health. Everyone wants their decisions to be consistent with their deepest beliefs and values.
Dialogue between patients and healthcare professionals is most productive if it is guided by empathy, and an opportunity for the patient to affirm the reasons underlying their attitudes and to express understanding for that. That’s why it is important to understand the attitude roots behind people’s overt opinions. To affirm a person’s underlying attitude root does not mean we need to agree with the specifics of their argument. For example, we can acknowledge that:
People’s religious convictions must be respected and it is understandable to want them to be taken into account when making decisions about their health. Everyone wants their decisions to be consistent with their deepest beliefs and values.
The leaders of the world’s major religions support and encourage vaccinations, recognizing that there is no contradiction between vaccinations and their beliefs. Most religions advocate for the protection of human life as an act of love for other humans, which is in line with moral and spiritual values.
Vaccination will protect the vulnerable in our society, who are at greater risk for serious illness if we do not get vaccinated. Asking for an exemption is therefore generally not compatible with the principles of the main religions.
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