Inoculation frustration: Compassion of doctors, nurses tested treating Alberta's unvaccinated COVID-19 patients
Months after COVID-19 vaccinations became available to all eligible Albertans, many people are still refusing to get them and subsequently ending up in hospital.
That's wearing on the medical professionals who end up caring for them.
"There is an underlying frustration that you feel personally," said Dr. Yael Moussadji, an emergency physician in Calgary. "However, when you practice medicine...you have to provide compassionate care to your patients, not matter what choices they've made in their lives...it is certainly testing the bank of compassion we carry with us on a daily basis."
Alberta is leading the country in new, daily COVID-19 cases and trailing the national average in vaccinations.
The vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Alberta have either only one dose of vaccine or none at all.
Dr. Moussadji said it appears that most people who refuse to get shots think they are protecting themselves.
Dr. Yael Moussadji, an emergency physician in Calgary.
MISINFORMATION, NOT IDEOLOGY
"This isn't about ideology," she says, "The number of patients that I have seen who are truly anti-vaccination is quite small. Most of the people I encounter who are unvaccinated are for various reasons due to misinformation."
Dr. Moussadji said many of those patients fear vaccine side-effects that don't actually exist or have found other incorrect information online.
Alberta's nurses said the vaccine hesitancy is the fault of the provincial authorities.
"What we are mostly mad about is the way the Kenney government has consistently downplayed the pandemic and not done a really good job of promoting vaccines," said Cam Westhead with the United Nurses of Alberta, "It's very demoralizing to have been warning the premier and health minster and Dr. Hinshaw about the capacity of the system...and to have been ignored this entire time."
Dr. Moussadji said she feels sorry for people fighting COVID-19 who thought they were being safe by refusing a vaccination.
"We certainly do feel compassion for these patients," she says, "because they now find themselves in a scenario where they do have COVID-19.
"Some of them are quite ill," she said, "and in some cases this could've been avoided or prevented."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israel attacks Iran, Reuters sources say; drones reported over Isfahan
Israel has attacked Iran, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Iranian state media reported early on Friday that its forces had destroyed drones, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Judge says 'no evidence fully supports' murder case against Umar Zameer as jury starts deliberations
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost names one celebrity who is great at hosting 'Saturday Night Live'
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn't over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
'Shopaholic' author Sophie Kinsella reveals brain cancer diagnosis
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.