Florida Dr. Linda Marraccini says she’ll continue to offer a telemedicine option, but if patients are not vaccinated against COVID-19, they will not be able to attend her consultation.
The Florida doctor said she would stop personally treating patients if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19, citing the risk of exposing immunocompromised patients and staff to the virus, which affects more than 46,000 people in the state and more than 648,000 people killed nationwide.
According to NBC, he said: āI understand that people are free to choose, but to me, itās a problem when it affects other people,ā Dr. Linda Marraccini said.
āWhen it comes to the safety of others, when it comes to the fact that itās a global health problem and community health problem, at this point, I really say that this is where it draws the line in the sand for me,ā Marraccini said.
āThereās been millions of deaths globally so thatās not something to ignore. People are getting to the point where everybody knows somebody that died from COVID,” said Marraccini. “This is a problem that really everyone needs to help out with and itās affecting our collective communal health.”
The doctor insisted that the policy does not violate her Hippocratic Oath, a set of ethical standards that doctors impose in terms of obligations to their patients, and noted that it still offers the possibility of telemedicine or referrals that other doctors will help. She also said she would make exceptions for people who could not be vaccinated for health reasons.
Marraccini said only 10 to 15% of her patients are immune to the vaccine. She gave them a month to help them make a plan for the future.
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