The current Covid-19 situation is “tedious” and represents “an additional effort” for doctors and nursing staff, according to AMMD President Dr Alain Schmit, who added that the pandemic is “definitely not over yet”.
The virus is mutating, which is no surprise, Dr Schmit explained, stressing that this should have been expected from the beginning. Dr Schmit described the spread of the Omicron variant in countries like the UK or the Netherlands as “concerning”.
Vaccines work, but require boosters to retain a long-term effect, according to Dr Schmit. Regarding vaccines, the AMMD President stressed that GPs, who have been offering vaccinations since the summer, must adhere to several regulations.
Dr Schmit described it as “a logistical challenge” for GPs. The AMMD regrets that there is no contact with the national crisis unit, which regularly leads to “mishaps”, such as doctors receiving the wrong vaccines or even no vaccines at all.
However, patients have to be registered on lists, Dr Schmit argued. Patients under 30 years of age are not allowed to receive Moderna, but at the same time, there is a shortage of BioNTech/Pfizer, he criticised.
In general, the communication with the crisis unit leaves a lot to be desired, with Dr Schmit stating that the AMMD would like to see it receive a “booster” too.
According to the AMMD President, there are two ways to manage the pandemic.
The first is prevention, i.e., preventing people from getting infected in the first place, for instance through masks or vaccination.
The second is optimising the entire process that is triggered if people do get infected, in order to guarantee the best possible care in hospitals without letting non-Covid patients fall through the cracks.
In the past, Dr Schmit had brought up the idea of a special ‘Covid hospital’. The idea was “rejected” at the time, which the AMMD President thinks was “unjustified”.
In practice, this would either involve designating one existing hospital facility as a “centralised Covid-19 ward”, or creating a “back-up hospital” which could help deal with sudden increases in hospitalisations.
Dr Schmit reported that doctors have “unfortunately” also fallen victim to verbal aggression and insults. In this context, the AMMD has informed its members that they would provide legal advice to affected doctors.
