Vaccinate patients with Diabetic should get priority during Covid-19 – Doctors Advice
Doctors at the Vanderbilt Medical Center claim that patients with diabetes need to be given preference for the COVID-19 vaccine. They have said there are certain side effects that they ought to be mindful of. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center also found that people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes contaminated with COVID-19 are three times more likely to have a significant condition or seek hospitalization than those without diabetes.
As a result of this amplified effect, policymakers are urged to give preference to these individuals for vaccination against COVID-19. Their observations have been published in Diabetes Treatment, a journal of the American Diabetes Association. They say that while reports have suggested that people with Type 2 Diabetes are at greater risk of more severe problems and are hospitalized with COVID-19, little is understood about the risk of persons with Type 1 Diabetes.
Researchers have urged policymakers to prioritize vaccination for individuals with diabetes as such people, once infected with COVID-19, are three times more likely to have a severe illness.
While tests have indicated that people with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of more severe complications and are hospitalized if they have COVID-19, little is understood about the risk of persons with type 1 diabetes. In the United States alone an estimated 1.6 million people have type 1 diabetes.
“Before we know it, we are going to have to decide which patients we need to prioritize to receive immunization for COVID-19,” said Dr. Justin M. Gregory MD, MSCI. Dr. Gregory not only researches how COVID-19 impacts Diabetic patients; he also lives with Type 1 Diabetes. Now, with a COVID-19 vaccine on its way, he says people with diabetes don’t need to be the very first to get vaccinated. “I think these data support prioritizing individuals with type 1 or individuals with type 2 diabetes for immunization alongside other high-risk medical conditions that increase the risk of getting very sick with COVID-19, such as heart or lung disease,” said Justin Gregory.
The team then thoroughly checked the patient’s medical history and interviewed several people via phone to determine additional risk factors and to collect further information about how Covid-19 had compromised their health. The team of investigators identified electronic health records (EHRs) of more than 6,000 patients across 137 Vanderbilt Health clinical sites that had a diagnosis of COVID-19 over the period from mid-March to the first week of August.
The team then thoroughly checked the patient’s medical history and interviewed several people via phone to determine additional risk factors and to collect further information about how COVID-19 had compromised their health.
They compared the cumulative effect of COVID-19 on three populations: people with type 1 diabetes, individuals with type 2 diabetes, and those who did not have diabetes. The study was a prospective cohort study, indicating that researchers identified participants immediately after their diagnosis with COVID-19 and tracked those people as they progressed through the disease. Prospective experiments have a reduced chance of investigator bias when the result is not determined until samples are identified.
“People with type 1 diabetes don’t need to live in fear and have undue anxiety, but they need to be really diligent in doing the things we all should be doing,” Gregory said. “All of us should be washing our hands and staying 6 feet apart. We should be conscientious about limiting the time spent with people outside our household. I’m not asking people with type 1 diabetes to do anything that all of us shouldn’t already be doing. I just think they need to be the most diligent about doing it day in and day out.”
