Advocates urge health officials to include front-line imaging workers in plans for first COVID-19 vaccines
As the U.S. prepares to administer COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers and its most vulnerable populations, imaging groups are calling on public health officials to ensure radiology’s front-line personnel are also included in the first phase of distribution.
Three top industry advocates—the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging—made their plea Dec. 7 in letters sent to public health leaders in each state.
The call follows a Dec. 1 meeting of the Advisory Commission on Immunization Practices, which guides the CDC on vaccines, recommending healthcare workers and people living in long-term care facilities be the first individuals to receive vaccinations.
States typically abide by the ACIP guidelines, but some may opt to vaccinate one high-risk group over another, according to Kaiser Health News. In the letters sent on Monday, the groups expressed the dire need to include their nearly 600,000 imaging professionals in this initial rollout.
“We are reaching out to all state public health officials to ensure that all radiologic technologists, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine technologists and sonographers are included in your state’s COVID vaccination plan as members of the ACIP’s Phase 1a healthcare personnel,” the letter states. “If medical imaging and radiation therapy personnel are not protected from COVID by receiving the vaccination as soon as it is available, patients may go without needed examinations and treatments.”
The letter writers noted that these professionals perform x-ray exams on patients with suspected or confirmed infection, post-intubation imaging on ventilated patients and ultrasound in COVID patients with vascular complications.
These front-line workers also image people who cannot travel to hospitals, going into people’s homes and long-term care facilities. Radiation therapists, meanwhile, have not stopped treating cancer patients during the pandemic.
“Americans count on our country’s healthcare personnel to care for them, now healthcare personnel look to you to help protect them from COVID-19,” according to the Dec. 7 letter. “We look forward to working with you to help protect our nation’s healthcare workers from COVID-19.”
Read the full letter here.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.