As a physician, I was trained to provide state of the art medical care for anyone, regardless of their personal beliefs, personality or philosophy. When it comes to treatment, there is no room for discrimination.
However, I must admit that I have no sympathy for those adult COVID patients who refused vaccination, only to die, stress hospital resources or suffer from prolonged symptoms. Indeed, I am especially unaffected by the illness and death of those who actively encouraged others to forego vaccination by spreading false information. Over the past year, public education has been relentless regarding the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines and those who decline to take advantage of their life-saving benefits put the lives of others at risk as well. One wonders how many innocent children and immune-compromised individuals have died due to the behavior of these zealots. Furthermore, the unvaccinated segment of our society is responsible for the emergence of new COVID strains, some of which could prove to be resistant to our vaccines.
I am certainly fortunate to have grown up during an era when medical care was not politicized; the polio vaccine, broadly accepted, was a godsend for my generation and those that followed. Unfortunately, the health of today's children is too often determined by the political allegiance and anti-science fervor of their parents.
