ENTtoday
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • Practice Focus
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Departments
    • Issue Archive
    • TRIO Best Practices
      • Allergy
      • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
      • Head and Neck
      • Laryngology
      • Otology/Neurotology
      • Pediatric
      • Rhinology
      • Sleep Medicine
    • Career Development
    • Case of the Month
    • Everyday Ethics
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Medical Education
    • Online Exclusives
    • Practice Management
    • Resident Focus
    • Rx: Wellness
    • Special Reports
    • Tech Talk
    • Viewpoint
    • What’s Your O.R. Playlist?
  • Literature Reviews
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Events
    • Featured Events
    • TRIO Meetings
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Triological Society
    • Advertising Staff
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
    • Place an Ad
    • Classifieds
    • Rate Card
  • Search

Tips on How to Approach Conversations with Patients about the COVID-19 Vaccine

by Thomas R. Collins • January 15, 2021

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.

You Might Also Like

  • New Shingles Vaccine More Effective and Longer Lasting Than Older Vaccine
  • Promise for Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis: Pediatric otolaryngologists have high hopes for the HPV vaccine
  • Should Adults Aged 26 to 45 Years Receive the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine?
  • Researchers Close In on Ear Infection Vaccine
Explore This Issue
January 2021

Physician, Vaccinate Thyself

Will you be receiving the COVID-19 vaccine? According to the AMA, you have an ethical duty to do so—or to at least protect your patients from any harm you might inadvertently cause.

The AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics already notes that physicians have a strong ethical duty to accept immunizations when a safe, effective vaccine is available, especially when a highly transmissible disease poses significant risks to patients and colleagues (but not when a specific vaccine poses a risk due to underlying medical conditions). Ethical concerns arose when physicians were allowed to decline vaccinations for non-medical reasons.

At the Nov. 16, 2020, Special Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates, language was added to the ethical guidance that “physicians who are not or cannot be immunized have a responsibility to voluntarily take appropriate actions to protect patients, fellow healthcare workers and others.” This includes refraining from direct patient contact.

“Physicians and other healthcare workers who decline to be immunized with a safe and effective vaccine without a compelling medical reason can pose an unnecessary medical risk to vulnerable patients or colleagues,” said AMA board member Michael Suk, MD, JD, MPH, MBA, in a release. “Physicians must strike an ethical balance between their personal commitments as moral individuals and their obligations as medical professionals.”

Attacked for Being Pro-Vaccine

At first blush, the experience of Pittsburgh-based Kids Plus Pediatrics might seem like a cautionary tale. In 2017, the practice posted a video promoting the HPV vaccine, along with physician comments such as, “It can prevent thousands of deaths each year.”

Soon, however, the practice’s social media sites began receiving negative reviews and comments from around the world—more than 800 people and 10,000 comments.

Rather than take down the video, though, Kids Plus Pediatrics stepped up its pro-vaccination message, and its CEO, Todd Wolynn, MD, MMM, helped start Shots Heard Round The World, a nonprofit group that protects the social media pages of practices promoting the public health benefits of vaccinations. The group monitors anti-vaccination activity and has crafted a toolkit for practices that have come under attack for promoting vaccines.

Dr. Wolynn has made it his life’s work to set an example of how to be an outspoken vaccination advocate in the face of coordinated opposition. He’s a fixture on Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. His message for otolaryngologists is simple: Despite some opposition, if you aren’t promoting your messages on social media, you aren’t helping your patients as much as you could.

“In 2020, it’s actually ludicrous to think that doctors are going to impart all your wisdom inside the four walls of your clinic or your office, and that includes otolaryngologists,” he said. “Your patients are getting all their information from social media, like it or not. For us to not be there is literally to abandon our patients to harmful disinformation.”

Discussions can be tailored for individual patients, but vaccines should have a place in the discussion, said Dr. Wolynn. “If it’s a geriatric patient, for example, I don’t think you have to go into a deep dive on the HPV vaccine,” he said. “But you certainly might say, ‘Influenza kills 40,000 to 80,000 people a year, mostly in your age group.’”

Most people are in favor of vaccinations, said Dr. Wolynn, and those who are hesitant aren’t usually hardline anti-vaccination advocates, who are the most vocal. This makes it important to present a more coordinated, pro-vaccine message, he said. “Vaccines are a public health issue that every healthcare provider can get behind.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page

Filed Under: Features, Home Slider Tagged With: COVID19, patient care, vaccinesIssue: January 2021

You Might Also Like:

  • New Shingles Vaccine More Effective and Longer Lasting Than Older Vaccine
  • Promise for Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis: Pediatric otolaryngologists have high hopes for the HPV vaccine
  • Should Adults Aged 26 to 45 Years Receive the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine?
  • Researchers Close In on Ear Infection Vaccine

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

The Laryngoscope
Ensure you have all the latest research at your fingertips; Subscribe to The Laryngoscope today!

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
Open access journal in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery is currently accepting submissions.

Classifieds

View the classified ads »

TRIO Best Practices

View the TRIO Best Practices »

Top Articles for Residents

  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Why More MDs, Medical Residents Are Choosing to Pursue Additional Academic Degrees
  • What Physicians Need to Know about Investing Before Hiring a Financial Advisor
  • Tips to Help You Regain Your Sense of Self
  • Should USMLE Step 1 Change from Numeric Score to Pass/Fail?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • Experts Delve into Treatment Options for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux
    • Some Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Resists PPI Treatment
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • Some Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Resists PPI Treatment
    • Eustachian Tuboplasty: A Potential New Option for Chronic Tube Dysfunction and Patulous Disease
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Why Virtual Grand Rounds May Be Here to Stay
    • Otolaryngologist Leverages His Love of Pinball into Second Business
    • These New Imaging Advances May Help to Protect Parathyroids
    • Is the Training and Cost of a Fellowship Worth It? Here’s What Otolaryngologists Say
    • Which Otologic Procedures Poses the Greatest Risk of Aerosol Generation?

Polls

Have you used 3D-printed materials in your otolaryngology practice?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Visit: The Triological Society • The Laryngoscope • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology

Wiley
© 2021 The Triological Society. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN 1559-4939

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.