Few would disagree that having suffered a severe vaccine reaction would justify caution about subsequent injections. Fortunately, that exemption, in the case of Covid-19 vaccines, has only very, very limited application, one that, if the doctors are doing their jobs, will see the success of newly-announced mandates and certificates.
In an email sent to members Wednesday, the head of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), Nancy Whitmore, said doctors are receiving “unfounded” requests for medical exemption notes to vaccines that would allow them to continue working in settings where COVID-19 vaccination is mandatory or, soon, get around Ontario’s newly announced vaccine certificate requirements.
Only children and those with a doctor’s note will be exempt from the rules.
“We need to ensure we are only allowing COVID-19 vaccine exemptions in the few situations where they are warranted,” Whitmore wrote.
Those situations are very few, the email goes on to say. Two valid reasons are if a person had a severe reaction to a previous dose of mRNA vaccine, or if a person had a case of myocarditis following a vaccine. Both are extremely rare.
Whitmore wrote that all doctors’ exemption notes need to clearly state the reason for the exemption, and the time period of the exemption, as it may not be permanent.
In additional guidance posted on the college’s website, the CPSO wrote that doctors, who are typically required to fill out third-party medical forms for patients, are not required to write exemption notes for illegitimate reasons — and should not.
The College's final advice is earnest and clear:
“If you find yourself in this situation, clearly and sensitively explain to your patient that you cannot provide them with a note or form, along with the reasons why.”
The advice proffered by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons rests upon the assumption that doctors will remember and act upon the most sacred injunction of their Hippocratic Oath: Do No Harm.
We live in hope.
