Doctors in Romania are sending a dramatic message to Romanians all over the country on a new day with over 15.000 new cases of infection reported for the whole country, asking people to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus, and to respect the preventive measures in force.
"Dear Romanians,
For us, the medical corps, it is increasingly difficult for us to cope with the wave of COVID-19 illnesses both among the population and among us, the medical staff.
The last few days show us a medical system stretched to the maximum and reached its limit, especially in the areas where COVID-19 patients are treated.
Every day we witness tragedies: patients dying, families suffering, doctors at the end of their powers, patients and medical staff infected with SARS-CoV-2 who need medical care. And the number is very high.
Faced with this dramatic picture, we think that the low degree of vaccination among the population represents, perhaps, a failure in terms of the trust that must exist between the medical body and the population.
Medicine is science, and science means research, exchange of experience, exchange of ideas, discussions of pros and cons, so that in the end the result means the common good.
Today, science and evidence-based medicine tell us, including through the voices of international reference forums in the field of health, that vaccination is one of the important tools for managing the COVID-19 pandemic as effectively as possible.
YES, even a vaccinated person can get sick.
YES, a vaccinated person can also develop severe forms of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
BUT the proportion of these cases is much lower among vaccinated than unvaccinated people.
This open letter is not just another appeal thrown into the ether.
It is a cry of despair, from us, from the Bucharest medical corps, through the voice of the College of Doctors from the Municipality of Bucharest, so that you, the population of Bucharest, but also the population of Romania as a whole, reflect on the information transmitted.
We assure you that we are serious and fair about the information provided, that we rely on and present to you the scientific evidence available to us at the time of communications, and that we want and must fight to rebuild the relationship of trust that must exist between the doctor and his patient , between doctor and society.
YES, we are desperate, because every day we lose hundreds of patients who die in Romanian hospitals.
YES, we are desperate because no matter how hard we try, this insidious disease takes away our patients.
YES we are desperate because we are often faced with this disease disarmed and empty handed.
And YES, we are desperate, because, unfortunately, we have heard too many times: I can't breathe... I'm not vaccinated...
Every day we talk to colleagues who tell us that they don't know what else to do. Our young patients die, children end up in intensive care units, people with comorbidities die, people without comorbidities die.
We are at a crossroads and I believe that only a joint effort, ours and yours, can limit and stop this wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Science tells us today that by vaccinating and observing protective measures we can fight this pandemic much more effectively.
This appeal is born from the suffering felt and experienced in medical facilities treating COVID-19 patients and is written with the responsibility of people who put science and evidence-based medicine at the forefront.
Prof. Dr. Cătălina Poiană, College of Physicians from the Municipality of Bucharest."
