In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, “The Doctor Will See You Now—Wait, Not You,” Dr. Lydia Dugdale, affiliate faculty and advisor to Columbia University’s Bioethics M.S. program, argues against an emergent practice of refusing treatment to patients who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Although it may seem initially logical for a physician or hospital to restrict access to their limited resources among unvaccinated people, Dr. Dugdale asserts that the practice could increase longer-term harm not only to patients, but also pose critical capacity issues in the broader health care system.
“Nearly 1 in 5 healthcare workers have left their jobs during the pandemic. Nursing shortages abound. There's no guarantee that patients dismissed by one clinician will find another. Patients may not be able to fill prescriptions or manage chronic conditions. Many will eventually wind up in the hospital, which can only worsen staffing and supply shortages. Doctors who seek to punish the unvaccinated end up punishing their own colleagues,” she writes.
Dr. Dugdale concludes with a reminder of the Hippocratic Oath or physicians’ obligation to care for patients. “The greatest hazard we face—vaccinated or not—is to have a generation of healthcare practitioners lose sight of that purpose.”
