Doctors without vaccines

There is a tale from ancient history and I do not know its authenticity, but I will briefly recite it because it tells us something about how we are living today: A child was eating alone inside his house when suddenly he started choking on something. He ran to his father coughing and gasping for air. The boy was trying to say something to his father but wasn’t able to due to his continuous coughing. Their neighbour was an old wise man and played the role of a traditional doctor as there was no real doctor at that time. All inhabitants consulted him when they needed advice or had a medical issue. He used herbs, plants and special diets in his interventions. The father panicked and rushed his child to this traditional doctor. The “doctor” gave him a goblet of water but the child refused it. Then started to push on his stomach, on the child's chest and put his finger inside the child's mouth with no benefit; the child still repeatedly coughing. After a while, the child started to talk and said, "I was choking from water, please stop." The “doctor” looked at the father and said: "I give water to a person who chokes with food but I don’t know what to give to a person who chokes from water, so if this happens again don’t bring him here." "Then where do we go? You are the one who we resort to when we need advice or when something happens," the father said. "Take him anywhere but not to me," the "doctor" said. The father was a poet and after he arrived home, he composed a long poem that started with (I translated it with a small modification for the rhyme): Where do I go when I need advice? Who would strengthen me when I am weak? Who chokes with a morsel seeks water, What does one who chokes with water seek? To all my colleagues who are against COVID-19 vaccinations, I will be quoting the poet's verse: We give water to a person who chokes with food, what do we give to a person who chokes with water? Doctors do counselling for antivaxxer patients but who would counsel doctors who are antivaxxers? So.... As you might have seen, the vaccines lower the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 which means they work. Do you have any reason to refute that? What evidence do you have that indicates the vaccine is harmful? What would you do and say to your patients when they consult you regarding the vaccine? Would you redirect them elsewhere or would you counsel them? Would you counsel them against the vaccine because you are against it? Or support their decision if they are willing to take it? Why are you against COVID-19 vaccine? Are you even convinced that COVID-19 exists? I am certain that doctors are honest in their opinion but I am wondering how it would be possible that you wouldn’t be biased when you are asked about the vaccine that you are against? We all remember Dr. Andrew Wakefield who misled the world and the damage he caused when he falsely claimed that there was a link between MMR and autism. It was a great opportunity for my colleagues to express their anti-vaccine opinion in my last item (Should we fire anti-vaxxer patients?), however expressing opinions in a hostile way nullifies the credibility of the opinion even if it is valuable. Let’s discuss the issue itself. Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician who works at Health Treasure Medical Center in Ottawa.

Doctors without vaccines

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