3 year old cannot avail of surgery abroad due to unvaccinated parents

by Andreas Kokkinos

The case of a 3-year-old child suffering from severe heart disease and needing additional surgery abroad is at a standstill due to the fact that the child's parents are unvaccinated and they are the only ones allowed to accompany him.

According to the Director of the Pediatric Clinic of Makarios Hospital, Dr. Abraham Elias, the child had already undergone heart surgery at Makarios Hospital but is still in need of additional surgery that can only be done in a specialized clinic abroad.

Speaking to Kathimerini, Dr. Elias explained that with the help of the Ministry of Health, arrangements were made to transport the child to a medical center in Germany specializing in these types of surgeries for children.  Unfortunately, they were informed yesterday afternoon that the medical center could not accept the child because both his parents were unvaccinated.

Consequently, efforts were made by the Ministry of Health to transport the child to a similar center in Israel, but again, due to the unvaccinated status of the parents, the center would not admit the child.

According to Dr. Elias, the parents have recently expressed their wish to be vaccinated in order to be able to accompany their child abroad for surgery, "but even when that happens, it will be six weeks before they are allowed to travel," he said.