Objectionable Solidarity and Fractures in the Ethics of Global Health Solidarity

Solidarity plays an important role in response to pandemics, natural disasters, and humanitarian crises. It has both an intrinsic and instrumental value in global health. However, it can result in unintended consequences when not practiced properly. When the unintended consequences of acts of solidarity are perceived by the intended beneficiaries to be so unacceptable that they are spurned, such solidarity is objectionable. This paper introduces the concept of objectionable solidarity and illustrates its global bioethical implications using the example of COVID-19 vaccine donations. Objectionable solidarity raises bioethical concerns including avoidable mortality, erosion of trust in health systems, and unjust distribution of life-saving resources. The argument then traces the roots of objectionable solidarity to fractures in the ethics of global health solidarity, and discusses the triggers of objectionable solidarity. Finally, this paper employs examples from Afro-Caribbean approaches to COVID-19 vaccine solidarity-such as reciprocity, sacrificidality, noblesse oblige, cooperativity, and simultaneity-as bases on which guidelines for navigating the ethics of global health solidarity in pandemic settings can be built.