(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 04 - "Dentists and dental hygienists are in the front row for Covid risk, but in the last row as regards access to vaccines".
To stigmatize the choice not to include oral health professionals in the categories that will have priority access to the vaccine is the board of the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology (Sidp), which joins today with the appeal of the Federation of Medical Orders (Fnomceo).
Given the characteristics of their profession, the World Health Organization (WHO) has also identified hygienists and dentists among the main categories at risk for the transmission of Sars-Cov-2.
For this reason, "we found it surprising the choice not to include them among those who will have priority access to vaccination", comments Luca Landi, Sidp president.
"We have equipped ourselves to adopt procedures that make dental offices safe, but we see a large number of patients every day and we are in very close contact with them even for a long time. Not giving priority to this category of health professionals means forgetting the health sector of the mouth. when, on the other hand, scientific studies show how this is closely linked to the health of the whole organism and even to the severity of the symptoms of Covid-19 ".
From Sidp comes an appreciation to the appeal of the president of Fnomceo Filippo Anelli.
"Like him - adds Landi - we believe that vaccinating only health workers who work in the public or affiliated environment means making inequitable distinctions between those who work daily in the field, and would exclude a priori dentists who work for over 90% in the private sector".
It is therefore urgent for Sidp to "update the vaccination plan and ensure homogeneous implementation at regional level. Vaccinating dentists - he concludes - would protect them, allowing them to continue to guarantee fundamental care but would also give patients a greater sense of security. Not doing so would be shortsighted".
(HANDLE).