On Execution of the Right to Vaccination in the Conditions of Pandemic

The article deals with legal aspects of mandatory vaccination in Ukraine and the European Union. Legislative regulation of vaccination in Ukraine is covered, the legality of restrictions on human rights in the field of health care in the conditions of public need to protect the population from the most common diseases is considered. One of the most effective ways to protect human health is vaccination. Although vaccination of the population is a rather common preventive medical intervention, its side effects, propaganda against vaccination and speculation on public ignorance of its consequences do not improve the situation. The problem of mandatory vaccination lies within the fact that a State needs to seek balance between the private interest of the person not to be vaccinated and the public interest. The balance of public and private interest, namely the restriction of the rights of the individual for a socially useful purpose, is not a new challenge for law: in the process of fulfilling the state's responsibilities, a State may narrow individual freedoms for the sake of society, and that is also applicable to possible mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. For better coverage of the topic, the author addressed to numerous sources: doctrine of natural law (a vital component in the fundamental acts of international law, such as the General Convention on Human Rights and International Pact on Human Rights, are based on these principles), Ukrainian legislation, ECtHR case law concerning the content of the right to vaccination. The ECtHR case Vavřička and Others v. the Czech Republic of 8 April 2021 is of extreme importance, because the case was the first in which the EU court had ruled on the question of mandatory vaccination. In general, research shows that limitation of the private interest to protect public needs is legally justified, because a State needs to assure safety of society as a whole and of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons