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Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen more online discussions about whether or not it’s okay for doctors to refuse to see patients who are unvaccinated against COVID-19. Recently, we had the case of a physician in Alabama who declined to see patients who are not vaccinated. I also heard last week from a trusted contact in the northeast, saying that her specialist physician, had written to patients basically saying she would ditch them if they were not vaccinated.

This raises an interesting discussion, and one that I have strong feelings about.

Firstly, it’s likely that only small numbers of physicians think like this, so let’s not conflate the figures. It is certainly enough though to be noticed as of August 2021—and that number only seems set to grow.

These sorts of discussions get to the fundamentals of the Hippocratic oath and what it means to be a physician. My uncle once sent me a Christmas card with the following quote: 

“Doctors are subject to certain professional obligations. The Hippocratic Oath demands that they treat everyone to the same high standard regardless of gender, nationality, religion or politeness! They must even afford the same standards of care to a murderer and the victim’s family. Sometimes, this must be challenging. Sometimes, it must seem unfair. But they have a duty — one that must be done without prejudice or discrimination”

I can’t say who the quote comes from, but I like it. The Hippocratic oath demands that we as physicians exercise our duties in the utmost non-judgmental way. Leave the judgement to God. We are there to treat our patients regardless of their life choices.

Think about it; we treat murderers, rapists, people who have committed the most heinous crimes. In the hospital, we frequently see patients who are chained to the bed, coming to us from jail, surrounded by police officers. We don’t refuse to treat them. Neither do we check patients’ criminal backgrounds before they register at a practice.

A decision regarding being vaccinated is one that we can only help with education and gentle persuasion. I have had many conversations over the last several months, recalling a few notable ones in particular—when people with major risk factors such as diabetes or advanced lung disease, have declined the COVID vaccine. I have looked into their eyes and told them that in my honest opinion they are making a mistake, and to keep thinking seriously about it. But in the end, it’s their choice. Nothing for me will supersede civil liberties, informed consent, and adults never being coerced into any medical therapeutic or procedure. That’s as far as we can take it. We don’t treat them differently in the future, any more than someone who has made a decision to keep smoking, drinking, doing drugs, riding a motorcycle, or filling their bodies with the wrong food every day. Adults make their own decisions, rightly or wrongly, all the time.

Finally, if COVID-19 was a stable virus like smallpox or polio, where vaccines show almost 100 percent efficacy, with a realistic complete elimination strategy—then maybe (maybe) this would be a different argument. But I’m afraid that is not the case from all the data so far. Albeit different viruses, the COVID-19 vaccines look set to be more like influenza vaccines—with the aim of significantly reducing disease severity for an endemic virus. If people are not vaccinated, other precautions can continue to be taken including screening and testing.

I would suggest any physician who is refusing to treat patients because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19, takes a long hard look in the mirror.

Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Founder at MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine and DocsDox . Follow him on YouTube and Facebook.