By Professor Dr Moy Foong Ming

I would like to address this letter to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to seriously consider the safety of medical students (in their clinical years) who are learning and working along with their clinical lecturers in the hospitals.

They are the only ones not vaccinated for COVID-19 in the clinical setting. They are at high risk of getting infected from the patients or transmitting COVID-19 to the patients.

These students should be regarded as part of the medical team; they are performing history taking, physical examinations and assisting in procedures in clinics and wards which form part of their education.

Medical schools/faculties from the USA, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, have included their medical students in the vaccination plan together with frontliners.

Medical students who are not vaccinated and performing bedside learning in the wards are at high risks of contracting and passing on the disease to the already vulnerable patients. They may be living with constant fear and anxiety of contracting COVID-19.

With the current COVID-19 situation, these medical students are in dire need for COVID-19 vaccination.

As the second part of the AstraZeneca vaccine opt-in starting again on 23 May, I would like to appeal to the Ministry of Higher Education to work with MOSTI in securing AstraZeneca vaccines for medical students, at least those in their clinical (final) year.

If they were to wait for their turn in the National Immunization Program, they will be the last to be provided with the vaccines.

Medical students should not be the source of transmission to the vulnerable patients that they come into contact with during their clinical training. The safety of medical students should be looked after to safeguard the future of our health care professionals.

We hope the Ministry of Higher Education and MOSTI can work hand-in-hand to protect the health of these medical students and patients that they come in contact with.

(Professor Dr Moy Foong Ming, Center of Epidemiology & Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social & Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.)