A Canadian doctor by the name of Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, who serves as a critical and palliative care physician at Ottawa Hospital is decrying how some healthcare workers are selectively caring for people depending on their vaccination status.
He called it "absolutely atrocious" to prefer giving care to those who are vaccinated against COVID over those who are not.
"I think it's wrong. I think it's creating mistrust. I think it's divisive," Dr. Kyeremanteng declared in a video posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday, CBN News reported. "I think it's creating mistrust. I think it's divisive. I think it's creating more tribalism and it, to me, is the last thing we need."
Dr. Kyeremanteng called upon the medical community to be "clear in our messaging" and to speak positively about the "magic" of the COVID vaccines, which he believes can "prevent you from landing in hospital, and ICU, and dying." He also condemned his fellow healthcare practitioners for making "value judgments on people based on lifestyle decisions."
The Canadian doctor said that when a patient is admitted to his ICU, they are "[treated] the same" and that the doctors "do what we can to serve and get you through your illness." He argued, "To think that we would do anything less because of your vaccine status is atrocious. It is absolutely atrocious." He added that it would be "extremely shameful to even think that's a consideration within our society," because people "are better than this."
"When you come to my ICU, I treat you the same. We do what we can to serve and get you through your illness. To think that we would do anything less because of your vaccine status is atrocious." @kwadwo777 pic.twitter.com/QWxiFux5fX
"” Solving Healthcare (@KwadCast) September 15, 2021
Dr. Kyeremanteng's comments come a few days after some doctors have declared how they deny treatment to patients who did not get vaccinated against COVID. Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that a South Florida doctor became the second physician to decide against treating unvaccinated folks.
Lina Marraccini is a primary care doctor in South Miami who made headlines when she blasted patients for a "lack of selflessness" in a letter she wrote claiming that the unvaccinated community pose a great risk to her medical staff. In her letter, she wrote, "This is a public health emergency - the health of the public takes priority over the rights of any given individual in this situation."
Dr. Marraccini lamented on the "lack of selflessness and concern for the burden on the health and well-being of our society." The Florida doctor is the second physician to publicly decry the unvaccinated after Alabama doctor Jason Valentine announced in August that he will refuse accepting unvaccinated patients starting October 1.
"I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease," Dr. Valentine wrote in a letter to his patients that made the news. The Civil Rights Act prohibits doctors not to discriminate or deny treatment based on a patient's age, sex, race, sexual orientation, religion, or national origin. It does not have protections for one's vaccination status.
