The New Inequality: Vaccine Ethics

Maxwell J. Smith, Kate H. Choi, Safura Abdool Karim and Ananya Tina Banerjee

7:30pm

Saturday, October 30

Authors and experts in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. As the world continues to traverse the COVID-19 pandemic, the race to vaccinate populations against the virus has raised many ethical questions. This panel discussion, with panelists Maxwell J. Smith, Kate Choi, Safura Abdool Karim and moderator Ananya Tina Banerjee, examines the moral obligation to be vaccinated and share supplies, as well as the impact of vaccine inequity and the racial and socioeconomic factors that contribute to it. As questions around vaccine passports and differing legislation circulate ahead of a fourth wave, these key topics have a direct impact on day-to-day life in Canada and around the world. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s world.

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Proudly supported by
Harriet Lewis and Eldon Bennett
Andrew and Valerie Pringle

Panel Discussion

Authors and experts in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. As the world continues to traverse the COVID-19 pandemic, the race to vaccinate populations against the virus has raised many ethical questions. This panel discussion, with panelists Maxwell J. Smith, Kate Choi, Safura Abdool Karim and moderator Ananya Tina Banerjee, examines the moral obligation to be vaccinated and share supplies, as well as the impact of vaccine inequity and the racial and socioeconomic factors that contribute to it. As questions around vaccine passports and differing legislation circulate ahead of a fourth wave, these key topics have a direct impact on day-to-day life in Canada and around the world. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s world.

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Proudly supported by
Harriet Lewis and Eldon Bennett
Andrew and Valerie Pringle

Panel Discussion

Featured Authors

Maxwell J. Smith

Dr. Maxwell Smith is a Bioethicist and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University. Trained in philosophy, bioethics and public health, Professor Smith’s research and writing examine the ethical issues that emerge when preparing for and responding to pandemics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was appointed to Ontario's COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, served as the Co-Chair of Ontario's COVID-19 Bioethics Table and continues to serve on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ethics & COVID-19 Working Group, WHO ACT Accelerator Ethics & Governance Working Group and Public Health Agency of Canada's Public Health Ethics Consultative Group.

Read more about Maxwell J. Smith

Kate H. Choi is an associate professor of sociology and director of the Centre for Research in Social Inequality at Western University. Her research examines the nature, trends and determinants of social inequality. She is particularly interested in structural barriers that contribute to racial and socioeconomic inequalities in family life and health. Her work has been published in several prestigious academic journals, including Demography, Journal of Marriage and Family and International Migration Review. 

Read more about Kate H. Choi

Safura Abdool Karim

Safura Abdool Karim is a public health lawyer and senior researcher at the Wits School of Public Health. She is also a member of the Africa CDC’s African Vaccine Delivery Alliance. Safura completed an LLB at the University of Cape Town and an LLM in Global Health Law at Georgetown University. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on constitutional rights and non-communicable diseases. Her research focuses on issues of vaccine equity, legal issues related to the COVID-19 response, NCD prevention and using the law to improve health outcomes more broadly.

Read more about Safura Abdool Karim

Ananya Tina Banerjee

Dr. Ananya Tina Banerjee is Assistant Professor of South Asian descent at the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupation Health, McGill University. Her interdisciplinary research embeds a strong emphasis on community-based participatory pedagogy and research, which is grounded in collaboration and partnership with her racialized students and their communities. She created and developed the first course on race and health in a school of public health in Canada. She is well known for her anti-racism and anti-oppression practice in the learning environment and providing critical mentorship for racialized students in public health programs.

Read more about Ananya Tina Banerjee