<p>In this article, we discuss the first order virtual element method for the numerical solution of the Maxwell-Cattaneo equation on a two-dimensional domain with an interface. We present a modified optimal order virtual element interpolation employing an extension operator due to the low global regularity of the exact solution. A new elliptic projection operator is defined and an optimal approximation order is proved while accounting for the discontinuous coefficient. For the semi-discrete virtual element formulation, an optimal order convergence estimate in the <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(L^\infty (L^2)\)</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <msup> <mi>L</mi> <mi>∞</mi> </msup> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msup> <mi>L</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mrow> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation> norm is given. For the fully discrete scheme, we use the implicit Euler method for approximation of the time derivative. The well-posedness of the discrete formulation and error estimates demonstrating the optimal rate of convergence in the <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(L^\infty (L^2)\)</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <msup> <mi>L</mi> <mi>∞</mi> </msup> <mrow> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msup> <mi>L</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msup> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> </mrow> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation> norm are obtained. Numerical studies on polygonal meshes confirm the theoretical estimations and demonstrates the robustness of the virtual element method.</p>