Follow The Science

Many Canadians sensed something was wrong during the COVID-19 years, even if they struggled to put it into words.

Public health decisions were framed as purely scientific, dissent was often dismissed rather than examined, and empathy, once central to care, seemed to fall away. For some, the experience was confusing. For others, it was deeply personal.

Follow the Science is written for readers who want to understand what happened without being told what to think.

Part personal account, part investigation, and part reflection, the book examines how public health in Canada became increasingly politicized, how legitimate questions were sidelined, and what it cost, not just statistically, but humanly. It looks carefully at data, policy decisions, and risk communication, while also making space for uncertainty, nuance, and compassion.

This is not a polemic, nor a rejection of science. It is a call to take science seriously enough to hold it alongside ethics, proportionality, and empathy, especially in moments of crisis.

Written by Kevin James Vowles, a former Violence and Injury Prevention Educator within British Columbia’s public health system, the book is grounded in lived experience. Vowles was dismissed from Island Health in 2022 after being denied accommodation for a documented anaphylactic condition. His story forms one thread in a broader examination of how systems behave under pressure, and how individuals are affected when flexibility disappears.

Follow the Science offers readers a steady, evidence-informed space to reflect on the pandemic years, and to consider how we might rebuild trust, dialogue, and care moving forward.