Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1440471
18 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW // VOL. 2022 NO. 1 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP mandate it is that the anti-vax employee has the chance to work next door in the same field, while a mandate makes them either change careers or take the vaccine. I believe all healthcare providers should receive the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters except for [those with] medical and con- firmed religious exemptions. Healthcare is a privilege, not a right. Majority of healthcare workers take a Hippocratic oath, or something similar for different fields. If you believe in "first, do no harm," you have to do everything you can to not spread disease, like getting vaccinated, wearing PPE and following all infectious disease mitigation measures. Charles Schlesinger, DDS. Comfortable Dentistry 4U (Al- buquerque, N.M.): I do believe that all healthcare providers should be vaccinated. Due to the close proximity of interac- tion between provider and patient, I believe there is not only a higher percentage of possibly coming in contact with an in- fected patient, but also a higher probability that an infected provider could pass along an infection to a patient. The vac- cines have been proven safe, and it is our professional respon- sibility to be vaccinated just like we are for all other communi- cable diseases. David Fishbaugh, DDS. North Point Pediatric Dentistry (South Bend, Ind.): Mandates are an infringement on personal liber- ties. I'm not anti-vax, but it should not be forced on anyone. No, [vaccinations] for healthcare providers should be voluntary. Spencer Bloom, DDS. (Chicago): I feel everyone should be urged to comply with COVID-19 mandates, but not forced or punished if they choose not to comply. The same goes for healthcare providers. Until such time as healthcare providers have been identified as the source of problems, I think it be- hooves us to recognize that PPE is a two-way barrier … very little in and very little out. As long as PPE protects the wearers and protects those they are caring for, we don't have an actual problem. To get so bent out of shape over theoretical prob- lems is not productive. We have nearly two years of pandemic experience. If I'm dead wrong, tell me, but I am unaware that healthcare workers are a known source of problems, so forcing vaccines on them at this point is without basis. It might sound logical, but still, it is without real reasons. Thus, the concept is using fake reasoning. BTW, I am fully vaccinated (Moderna), and I feel safer because of that. But I'm not in favor of forcing people to do what I chose to do.. n Image Credit: Adobe Stock