The Polarization Problematic: Moral Panic, COVID-19, and Proof-of-Vaccination Passports in Canada

This article contributes to the developing conversation about polarizing moral panics by theorizing three interlocking mechanisms that have the potential to facilitate, modify, and sustain polarizing tendencies in the life course of a moral panic. To demonstrate how the mechanisms that condition polarizing tendencies in a moral panic operate, we examine newspaper coverage on the implementation of COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination passports in Canada. We conclude by encouraging a developmental and contingent understanding of polarization within and beyond moral panic research.