Reply to the letter to the editor entitled “About the ‘critical reflections’ on the Municipal Epidemiological Resilience Index”

We greatly appreciate the comments made by Rojas-Botero et al.1 on our paper entitled “Critical reflections on the Municipal Epidemiological Resilience Index used for public policy decision-making regarding the control of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia”.2 We acknowledge that public health, understood as the well-being of the community, should be the focus of all our efforts as health professionals. In this sense, decision-making amid a major emergency, such as the one we are currently experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, requires a balanced and calm judgment that considers both the general context and local specificities, as well as the best available scientific evidence, that is, evidence that not only supports decisions, but also prioritizes benefits over risks.