A consultant oncologist says cancer patients and survivors should be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Currently, people over the age of 70 and those with very high risk conditions are being vaccinated, including cancer patients actively receiving treatment and patients with advanced cancers.
Professor John Crown of St Vincent's Private Hospital agrees patients undergoing treatment should be given priority, but adds everyone who has had cancer should be higher up the vaccination list.
"Some patients, if they get Covid, are much more likely to get very sick with it and these are older cancer patients, patients who maybe have had lung cancer, or patients who have a history of lung disease, in addition to lung cancer.
"I personally believe that all patients with an active cancer diagnosis, that are currently on treatment, should be given higher priority for vaccination," Prof Crown said.
"I also believe that patients who are survivors of cancer, in very many categories, should be given very high priority," he added.
In the provisional vaccine allocation groups, cancer survivors are not specifically highlighted for priority vaccination, meaning they will instead receive the vaccine when they are called on based on their age or occupation.
Going by the current priority list, cancer survivors between the ages of 55-64 would have to wait until the rollout reaches Cohort 12, while survivors between 18-54 would be included in Cohort 14.
