LETTER: I would like to appeal to the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) to seriously consider the safety of the medical students (in their clinical years) who are learning and working along with their clinical lecturers in the hospitals.
They are the only ones not vaccinated for Covid-19 in the clinical setting. They are at high risk of getting infected from the patients or transmitting Covid-19 to the patients.
These students should be regarded as part of the medical team; they are performing history taking, physical examinations and assisting in procedures in the clinics and wards, which form part of their education.
Medical schools/ faculties from the USA, UK, Hong KongS, Singapore and the Philippines, have included their medical students in the vaccination plan together with frontliners.
Medical students who are not vaccinated and performing bedside learning in the wards are at high risks of contracting and passing on the disease to the already vulnerable patients. They may be living with constant fear and anxiety of contracting Covid-19.
With the current Covid-19 situation, these medical students are in dire need for vaccination.
As the second part of the AstraZeneca vaccine opt-in starting again on May 23, I would like to appeal to the MOHE to work with MOSTI in securing the AstraZeneca vaccines for medical students, at least those in their clinical (final) year.
If they were to wait for their turn in the National Immunisation Programme, they will be the last to be provided with the vaccines.
The medical students should not be the source of transmission to the vulnerable patients that they come into contact during their clinical training. The safety of medical students should be looked after to safeguard the future of our health care professionals.
We hope the MOHE and MOSTI can work hand-in-hand to protect the health of these medical students and patients that they come in contact.
PROFESSOR DR MOY FOONG MING
Centre of Epidemiology & Evidence Based Practice
Department of Social & Preventive Medicine
Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times