Clarksville Now publishes opinion pieces representing both sides of a variety of topics. Opinions presented do not necessarily reflect those of the newsroom or management. To join the conversation, email your opinion piece to news@clarksvillenow.com.
Contributed commentary by Dr. Quentin Humberd:
As a pediatrician serving children and families in the Clarksville-Montgomery County region for more than 25 years, I feel compelled to speak up and address the concerns raised about “mandates” around COVID vaccines for workers in healthcare and other settings.
Recent statements by our elected senior senator, Marsha Blackburn, have argued that a huge percentage of our labor force will be impacted and we would lose millions in revenue for Tennessee businesses. However, the assertion that our health care system will be weakened by vaccine requirements is the most egregious. This is a perfect example of misinformation wrapped in the argument that all of us have a right to freedom and choice. Here we see badly flawed logic, and I will explain why.
Healthcare workers in our state are trained, licensed and certified by a variety of organizations, all in the goal of providing safe and evidence-based care to patients. As a physician, I would never want my patient to believe that I had a “choice” to not wash my hands before an exam, put on gloves before an invasive procedure, or wear a mask during a surgery because my rights were at stake. Each of these simple measures is required, or dare I say mandated, by the places I work to protect both the physician and the patient. These measures follow a large body of research and evidence that are really no longer in question. Prior to the COVID pandemic and the reawakening of antivaccine misinformation, the scientific knowledge about the safety and efficacy of our vaccine supply was also not in question.
As a pediatrician over several decades, I saw the benefit of vaccines. I saw the lives lost due to lack of vaccination, and the lives saved from vaccination. I spoke with hesitant parents to reassure them that vaccines are safe and that vaccines work. I watched and shared in their pride as their babies grew into healthy young adults.
In our health care settings around the state, no worker is allowed to come to work with a known, preventable disease that they might give to a patient. I have been required to be up to date on my vaccine record for measles, hepatitis, whooping cough, polio, TB and many others for my entire medical career, both for my protection and the protection of my patients. It is no different for the COVID vaccines that are currently approved by the FDA. In fact, it is even more important as we are in a pandemic such as none of us has ever experienced. In Montgomery County 1 out of 6 people has been infected and at least 1 in 554 people have died.
It is true that when pressed, our elected leaders will always say that vaccines are the best tool we have to end the pandemic, and I fully agree. The misinformation that follows and some spread about vaccines and requirements is in fact the enemy of our freedom and our choice. Don’t be taken in.
As a physician, I fully support a requirement that those providing health care to others be vaccinated for all relevant infectious diseases, including COVID. Care for yourself, your neighbor, your family and your loved ones. Get vaccinated and we can stop this scourge.
Dr. Quentin Humberd
"choice" - Google News
December 24, 2021 at 12:22AM
https://ift.tt/3emc1wo
COVID-19 vaccine misinformation undermining freedom and choice | OPINION | ClarksvilleNow.com - Clarksville Now
"choice" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WiOHpU
https://ift.tt/3c9nRHD
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "COVID-19 vaccine misinformation undermining freedom and choice | OPINION | ClarksvilleNow.com - Clarksville Now"
Post a Comment