I have many vaccinated friends. Some have spoken quietly, “I got my second shot today.” Some have posted smiling pictures in the clinic or in a circle of flowers, happy, healthy images on Facebook and Instagram. When I see bragging, I fear they want me to join them. When I see the quiet ones, I fear some will get more than they signed up for. This pandemic is all about fear.
I do not fear COVID. I never did. My first “two week lockdown” came when I was in Arequipa, Peru. I was shocked, and afraid. Not of COVID, of the governments. I knew immediately that two weeks was just a taste of what was, and is, to come. Two weeks became four. Shortly afterwards, soldiers arrived from Lima. Los Arequipeños were never well behaved. The bureaucrats were not amused. A few weeks later, we left for the security and safety of Canada, our home country. I never felt any immediate fear, nor fear of COVID, only fear of what the future might bring.
I have followed and at the same time tried to avoid listening to the news. The stories and statistics were impossible to comprehend. They still are.
I studied COVID, looking for cures. Most patients are cured, many before any diagnosis. Cures appeared in droves and were swatted down like flies. This continues today.
For months, we have walked forward, blindly, in a tunnel ranging from panic to fear to hysteria. A friend quoted the title of a Pink Floyd song: Comfortably Numb. That’s describes how I feel and what I am seeing.
Then the light appeared. Vaccines will save us. At first it was a faint hope, gradually growing as several were rushed through emergency approval. The light continues to grow. I fear it may blind our friendship. That’s why I write this letter.
I am not anti-vax. I am not vaccine-hesitant. I have been vaccinated many times in the past. As a traveler, I carried a vaccine passport, proving yellow-fever vaccination, necessary to visit Brazil – although I only got as close as the middle of the river at Iguazu Falls. I am 68, at the age where I constantly need to consider shingles vaccination.
I also believe strongly in the basic medical right to refuse treatment.
A patient may refuse treatment that the healthcare provider deems to be an act of beneficence out of the principle of autonomy. In the United States, the right to refuse treatment is protected by 42 CFR § 482.13. and A patient’s autonomy is violated when family members or members of a healthcare team pressure a patient...Patient Rights And Ethics
A patient has the right to refuse or to halt a medical intervention. A DECLARATION ON THE PROMOTION OF PATIENTS’ RIGHTS IN EUROPE
Patients must always be free to consent to or refuse treatment, and be free of any suggestion of duress or coercion. Consent: A guide for Canadian Physicians
I am consciously exercising my rights to refuse medical treatments. I do not have COVID. I am not even a patient. Maybe I’ve had an asymptomatic case, but probably not. I have been tested several times. If I do get COVID-19, a normal case will last a week or two and be over, leaving me be more immune than any vaccine.
I believe in basic medical science. Scientifically, the COVID vaccines are new technologies, largely untested. We will not experience “one year later effects” until at least December 2021. We might not understand the total effects for decades. As a result, fully informed consent is not possible at present.
Why am I writing this letter?
Some of my friends and family have expressed concerns about meeting with me, if I am not vaccinated.
I am not afraid of COVID.
If you are afraid, and afraid to be near me – let me know. Although I do not share it, I will respect your fear.
I have my own fears, and I am always open to handshakes and hugs to alleviate them.
to your health, tracy
