On August 23, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer BioNTech. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19vaccines have emergency authorization. At the same time, the U.S is going through a fourth wave due to the highly contagious Delta strain of the new coronavirus.
Several states have low vaccination rates, and many companies, including federal institutions, have decided to issue no-option vaccination mandates. The health system is overwhelmed with the surge in daily new Covid cases and high hospitalization rates. At the same time, there are still millions of unvaccinated U.S residents.
Health Providers are burnout and might refuse to treat unvaccinated patients
In August, an Alabama doctor announced that he would no longer attend unvaccinated patients starting October 1. Alabama is currently the U.S state with the lowest vaccination rate. Dr. Jason Valentine decided that he can no longer watch people die due to Covid just because they do not want to get vaccinated. He took to social media to announce his decision. He explained that although there are not many treatments for severe cases of Covid-19, the disease can be prevented through vaccination.
A Florida doctor, Lina Marraccini, has decided to do the same, and she announced that she would no longer see unvaccinated patients starting September 15. The doctor explained that the FDA has fully approved the Pfizer vaccine and, therefore, there is no reason for people to refuse vaccination when dealing with a health crisis. Dr. Marraccini mentioned that people should not be selfish when it comes to such a significant crisis our society is experiencing. She is the second health provider to make this decision. The pandemic and the fourth wave due to the Delta variant have severely hit Florida.
