Physicians are to help their patients make good bets regarding their health. Expertise and critical thinking help to make good bets. There are contexts in which critical thinking and established expertise are not necessarily associated with the best outcomes. And in complex matters it is often productive to provide room and respect for varied perspectives. I encourage us to celebrate the wonderful diversity of life.

Many are anxious to get vaccinated. Many are anxious about having surgery, taking a new medicine, or having a baby.

The anxiety, while understandable, does not justify the denial of life promoting actions.

As a specialist in preventive medicine and public health it is easy to conclude that the benefits outweigh the risks for administering effective vaccines, especially when the infection risks are high. 

There are, and there will always be, untoward events for a subgroup of those vaccinated. That is a reality. 

Another reality is that none of us know what we don’t know. It is not reasonable, however, to base our choices on what we don’t know.

We all behave and respond unreasonably at times. Teilhard de Chardin, a well-respected 20th century French philosopher, was quoted as saying that reason is the imperfection of our intellect. 

Nonetheless, in the matter of a serious epidemic, let us respond reasonably, that is to respond based on what we do know through the consensus of our experts.

While I respect the adage to not fix something if it isn’t broken, I counter that it depends. As a specialist in preventive medicine, I find the evidence compelling that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Dr. James Rotchford
PORT TOWNSEND