Uncertainty, (de)valuation, and the limits of legal calculability

Vaccinations are considered one of the most impactful and cost-effective forms of public health interventions but governing them presents distinct challenges. In vaccination campaigns, a balance must be struck between individual freedom and collective safety, and between vaccines’ public health impact and the viability of vaccine manufacturing business. The rare but occasionally severe adverse effects of vaccinations can unsettle this balance. This paper analyses one such case: vaccine injury litigation in the U.S. before the introduction of a federal compensation scheme in 1986. Drawing on classical social theory and recent work in valuation studies, we show how this litigation generated uncertainty, undermining calculability of the legal order for vaccine manufacturers, with courts emerging as the key sites for vaccine valuation. Using this case study, we show how law does not only function to stabilise or produce economic value, but can also undermine it.

Limiting · Psychological intervention · Public health · Public health interventions · Vaccination · Auction Theory and Applications · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy