Why can’t private doctors decide if you can take Covid jab?

The Private Medical Practitioners Association (PMPA) is up at arms against the government’s decision to only allow doctors in public hospitals to be able to determine whether a patient can be vaccinated or not. This decision was announced by the Minister of Health on June 3.

As from June 21, a regulation issued by the Ministry of Health ordered that in order to have access to public and private health centers as well as educational institutions, the public must present a vaccination card.

For those who have not had the vaccine, they will need to present a medical certificate, signed only by doctors from the public hospitals.

This document must certify that a person cannot take an anti-COVID-19 vaccine. The vice-president of the Private Medical Practionners Association, Dr Isshaq Jowahir, described the decision as “a discrimination against doctors of the private sector.”