Coronavirus: Cardiologists demand earlier vaccinations

Cardiologists said on Thursday that they should be put in a higher priority group for receiving the coronavirus vaccine because of the risk they run of contracting the virus from their patients.

The health ministry published the priority list on December 15.

“Cardiologists who do not currently work in hospitals with Covid-19 patients or in emergency departments and intensive care units have been placed in the fifth group, which means that it will be several months before they are vaccinated,” the cardiology association said in a statement.

However, the announcement said, cardiologists, like other health professionals, are in close contact with patients on a daily basis, some of whom may be infected with the virus without knowing it, and are at an increased risk of infection.

They may in turn infect heart patients, one of the most vulnerable groups of the population.

“In addition, our members are on call and at any time likely to be summoned – and some have already been summoned – to work in hospitals which treat patients with Covid-19 without being vaccinated.”

“We call on the ministry of health to re-examine this provision so that cardiologists can contribute with all their means, but also safely, in the fight against the pandemic.”