Dentists Say They Should Be Higher On Massachusetts COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution List
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you're a dentist, then you do a job that's about as face-to-face as it gets, yet the state has placed them at the very bottom of Phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination list. Dentists say they should have access to the vaccine now.
"We're working eight inches from the person's nose and mouth, and that's exactly where the virus comes from," said Dr. Peter Kulka of Hanover.
He has spent thousands of dollars to COVID-proof his office but there's still no really safe way to perform dentistry right now.
"We're working with a high-speed drill and we generate aerosols that are up and around almost like a cloud all around us. And in those aerosols are those viruses," he said.
Dentists are listed behind harbormasters on the state's vaccine distribution list.
"We're just sitting ducks," said Dr. Sandra Cove, "it's just a matter of time before we're exposed."
"The fact that we're considered non-COVID facing is absurd because when we drill with a 450,000 mile per hour drill, we're creating a salivary aerosol 15 feet in every direction," she added.