Editor:
Re: A kick in the teeth, Jan. 21.
In respect of the complaint of an emergency-room doctor concerning vaccination priorities at Peace Arch Hospital (“an administrator and two of her family members were deemed “priority staff”), while his opinion is understandable there is another perspective.
I don’t question Dr. Hendry’s position that physicians and nurses who work in the front-line units in the hospital should be right up there.
However, (and to be fair, this was noted in your story) the family members were employed in the hospital, as a porter and a screener respectively. By the nature of their work, they are at some risk. In fact, given their positions, should they unknowingly become infected they would have the potential to unwittingly spread the virus to others within the hospital.
Certainly, any medical professional, be they a nurse, family physician, dentist, or anyone else who regularly sees patients in the course of their profession, ought to be at the front of the line.
With that said, in this case, to avoid letting vaccine go to waste, the hospital provided vaccinations at the end of their clinic hours to those who were immediately available. The hospital should be commended for this practice, not chastised.
Bill Baker, Surrey