The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) wants doctors to treat patients who are resistant to the Covid-19 vaccine with medication and psychotherapy.
A revised version of the CPSO’s website discusses managing “anxieties related to” the Covid-19 shot.
“It is also important that physicians work with their patients to manage anxieties related to the vaccine and not enable avoidance behavior,” wrote the CPSO.
“For example, for extreme fear of needles (trypanophobia) or other cases of serious concern, responsible use of prescription medications and/or referral to psychotherapy may be available options,” it continued.
“Overall, physicians have a responsibility to allow their patients to be properly informed about vaccines and not have those anxieties empowered by an exemption.”
Originally the page did not mention anything about concerns with receiving needles and only referred to “responsible use of prescription medications and/or referral to psychotherapy are available options.”
At the height of the pandemic, the CPSO cracked down on doctors who dissented from the prevailing Covid-19 narrative at the time and voiced opposition to lockdowns or other pandemic measures.
Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill was among the physicians targeted by the CPSO for her anti-lockdown tweets.
“There is absolutely no medical or scientific reason for this prolonged, harmful and illogical lockdown,” tweeted Gill in 2020.
The CPSO cited Gill for allegedly inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour over the tweet.
“She stated unequivocally and without providing any evidence that there is no medical or scientific reason for the lockdown,” the CPSO said at the time.
“Her statement does not align with the information coming from public health, and moreover, it is not accurate.”
The CPSO has gone after several other doctors for handing out exemptions to the vaccine including Drs. Celeste Jean Thirlwell, Mary Elizabeth O’Connor, Mark Raymond Trozzi and Rochagne Kilian.
