Medical students waiting for vaccines, despite front-line work in hospitals

The student who spoke to this newspaper said medical students who work in healthcare as part of a clerkship “are told that we are a vital part of the front line and yet we are not vaccinated and have no idea when we will be.”

Some of that frustration spilled on to social media this week when numerous students expressed fear and anxiety because of the lack of communication about when they will get vaccinated.

“Some of our classmates on internal medicine worked on floors with COVID outbreaks. On these floors they were seeing patients directly, but were seemingly the only ones on the floor not to be vaccinated. There are non-patient seeing staff who have gotten both vaccines,” wrote one student on social media.

The fact that hospital staff facing less risk have been vaccinated first makes front-line students feel like second-class citizens, they said.

And medical students say their counterparts from other medical schools, including University of Toronto and McMaster, have been vaccinated.

Part of the students’ frustration stems from the fact that there has been so little communication about when to expect a vaccine.

Students have been told their turn is coming and that they should keep their phones on and be ready. But one student said the lack of detail and fears that they might miss their turn has added to their stress.

“It is really taking a toll on all of us. There is just heightened fear going in and not knowing whether you are going to see someone with COVID and get it and bring it home to your family.”

Students are in phase 1 of the framework, added TOH spokeswoman Michaela Schreiter, “and therefore patient-facing medical students will be vaccinated based on their availability and when they are scheduled to work in the hospital.”