I have noticed throughout the COVID-19 crisis, there has been a distinct absence of town halls, university public presentations, and health department open briefings on the pandemic. Stonewalling for three years has resulted in pent up anxiety over many aspects of public health particularly mass vaccination. After two years of flooding the zone with “safe and effective” our public health agencies are out of ammunition. Questions are pouring in about heart damage, blood clots, and neurologic syndromes. Many people want to hear confirmation of their suspicions from doctors in positions of medical authority. A rare public event was organized and hosted by Dr. Sally Priester at Centro De Bellas Artes San Sebastian, San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. As I spoke on stage in front of the pensive crowd, most of whom had been vaccinated, I could imagine the concerns they have developed seeing friends and family developing side effects and some some cases losing their lives.

I was followed by an impromptu exhortation from Javier Jiménez Pérez, a Puerto Rican politician and the current mayor of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. Jiménez is affiliated with the New Progressive Party and asserted in Spanish that his city has always promoted freedom of choice and respect for bodily autonomy.

It was clear afterword that what Jimenez did not have over the past few years was medical backup from doctors in his town who put patient safety and bioethics above the heavily funded government mission to get “a needle in every arm.”

Most people left that day understanding that if they felt well now after the shot, they are fortunate and under no conditions should they step up to the Russian Roulette wheel for another injection and spinning of fate.

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