With input from Dr Monica Vasudev

1215: Minutes of Virtual Meeting of CMAAO NMAs on “Can I Refuse Vaccine”

12^th December, 2020, Saturday; 9.30am-10.30am

Participants, Member NMAs: Dr KK Aggarwal, President CMAAO, Dr Alvin Yee-Shing Chan, Hong Kong, Treasurer, CMAAO, Dr Marthanda Pillai, India, Member World Medical Council, Dr Marie Uzawa Urabe, Japan Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, President South African Medical Association, Dr Md Jamaluddin Chowdhury, Bangladesh Medical Association, Dr Ashraf Nizami, Pakistan Medical Association

Invitees: Dr Russell D’Souza, Australia UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, Dr S Sharma, Editor IJCP Group

 Key points from the discussion

• Analysis of graphs of the top 15 countries in the world shows that India, Argentina and Poland are still experiencing the first wave of the infection. The remaining 12 countries have seen more than one wave; of these, the second wave is shorter than the first wave only in Brazil and Colombia. In the rest, the second peak is significantly higher than the first wave.
• There is a law in the US where employers can fire employees who have not taken the flu vaccine. Relief has been granted three times on religious, medical grounds and personal liberty.
• Vaccine is now available in the UK, US, UAE, China.
• With the impending arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine in many more countries, many questions will come up, which need to be answered.
• Can a government/hospital mandate vaccination?
• Is informed consent required before vaccination?
• Is an employer exempt from paying workers’ compensation to an employee who refuses to be vaccinated and then contracts the virus while on the job?
• Can a prospective employer require COVID-19 vaccination as a pre-condition of employment?
• Can a patient refuse treatment from a doctor who has not taken the vaccine?
• If a hospital allows employees to refuse vaccination and keep working and an outbreak occurs, and it is suggested through contact tracing that unvaccinated workers infected patients, will a court hold the hospital liable for patient’s damages?
• It was suggested that CMAAO countries could develop an awareness program about the efficiency and side effects of the vaccine, including the need of the vaccine.
• It is important to maintain the recommended storage temperature and transport temperature. Storage temperature for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is -70^oC, which is not feasible in developing countries.
• How will the vaccine act if given to an asymptomatic positive individual?
• If a person already infected with the virus is given the vaccine, will there be a reaction?
• CDC says that people who have already had COVID “may still benefit from getting vaccinated”. WHO has not defined any selection criteria. All must take it.
• Professional autonomy is not absolute. So if the law says that vaccine has to be taken, we have to take it.
• Pfizer has been granted legal indemnity by the UK government and the company will not be liable for any adverse event due to COVID-19 vaccine.
• Patients with history of severe allergy/anaphylactoid reaction should not take the m-RNA vaccine.
• Health officials have cautioned that those who take Sputnik V vaccine should give up alcohol for almost two months. This has already caused a backlash.
• No vaccine is mandatory but people still take it. But it cannot be given without informed consent.

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA