A Florida doctor said she's refusing to treat unvaccinated patients in person but denied violating the Hippocratic Oath, says report

 A doctor in South Miami, Florida said she is refusing to treat any unvaccinated patients in person because it is "not fair" on others, Newsweek reported.

Dr. Linda Marraccini said she decided to implement the policy, which will go into effect on September 15, because she has other patients who are immunocompromised or in chemotherapy and does not want to expose them to the virus in her clinic.

"It's not fair for people who are unvaccinated to harm other people," Marraccini, who continued to see all of her patients in person during the pandemic, told Newsweek.

The doctor insisted she was not violating the Hippocratic Oath, which is still held sacred by many physicians.

"The Hippocratic Oath is very science-based. I am following the science. I'm applying this to the benefit of the sick," she said.

"Responsibility has to do with each individual," Marraccini added. "This is a global health issue, and everyone owns part of that responsibility."

Marraccini said she will still be seeing unvaccinated patients, but only through virtual meetings. She said that she would make exceptions for people who cannot get the vaccine for health reasons.

"We're not going to leave them out there in the cold," she insisted, according to Newsweek.

Florida is in the grip of its deadliest wave of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, which is largely driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

Just over half (54%) of Florida's population is fully vaccinated, according to a tracker by The New York Times. More than 46,000 people in the Sunshine state have so far died from the virus, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.