An inquiry into alleged COVID-19 vaccine injuries fails to weigh the ethics and risks of Canada’s response

In early September, Conservative Party MP Dean Allison held a four-day independent, unsanctioned “inquiry” for “Canadians to share their personal experiences of injuries…from the COVID-19 vaccine(s).” The event heard testimony that alleged the response to COVID-19 was “a miserable failure,” not least due to the “assaults on freedom and other malign actions.” An opinion piece in the Toronto Sun subsequently claimed that COVID-19 vaccine programs “killed thousands of Canadians,” repeating a call for an immediate stop of COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations, as well as “resignations, arrests and a full public inquiry…by the prime minister.” It further claimed that Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts represent, at best, the “biggest health policy mistake in Canadian history.” But testimony heard at this inquiry — and responses to that testimony — conflate factual claims with ethical claims.

As a consequence, it fails to recognize the ethical factors critical to understanding and justifying COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

As public health ethicists, we’re interested in clarifying the factors necessary to substantiate claims about “policy mistakes” and informing expectations for future vaccination policy decisions.

The conflation of facts and ethics Some of the claims made in the Allison inquiry and related reporting pertained to facts, both stated and omitted.

Other claims were ethical in nature.

The difference is critical to understanding and justifying COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

For example, questions of facts are: How many people were injured or died as a result of COVID-19 vaccination How were vaccine candidates tested and regulated How many people were saved by vaccines .

Immunity and Society is a new series from The Conversation Canada that presents new vaccine discoveries and immune-based innovations that are changing how we understand and protect human health.

Through a partnership with the Bridge Research Consortium , these articles — written by experts in Canada at the forefront of immunology, biomanufacturing, social science and humanities — explore the latest developments and their impacts.

Getting on the same page about these facts and dispelling mis- and disinformation remains crucial.

For example, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) records 455 reports of deaths following COVID-19 vaccination, noting these deaths weren’t necessarily attributable to the vaccine.

After assessing causality, PHAC reports a total of four deaths consistent with causal association to immunization.

To put this in context, more than 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Canada.

But getting on the same page about facts is not enough.