Senior citizens best candidates for Covid-19 vaccination: expert

MANILA – A health expert on Tuesday said senior citizens are the “best candidates” for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination because they are at risk of severe infection or death from the disease considering their age and comorbidities.

In an online media forum, Dr. Shelley Ann dela Vega, Director of the University of the Philippines Manila- National Health Institute on Aging, reported that most deaths from Covid-19 nationwide are among the senior citizens – 65 years old and above – constituting 81.15 percent of the country’s death toll.

Dela Vega also reported that about 55.6 percent of senior citizens are hypertensive, 16.8 percent are diabetic, 15.4 percent are obese, and 11.6 percent are smokers – making them at risk of severe Covid-19 infection.

Hence, she cited the need for senior citizens to be inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines which are proven safe since they were granted emergency use authorization from the country’s Food and Drug Administration.

“[From] vaccine storage and handling, site preparedness, we know that they have trained the people in the sites that will administer the vaccine. There are also screening of the older people, senior citizens, at the vaccine site when they get there. So, they will be asked if they have fever,” she added.

Citing that high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and kidney disease are not contraindications, dela Vega noted that senior citizens with such comorbidities need not secure their doctors’ clearance before vaccination.

“Let’s also now say that the recommendation that I am putting forward is that yes, senior citizens are the best candidates for Covid vaccination. Tumatanda na ang katawan pati ang immune system. Kung hindi pabakunahan, mas mahirap silang mag-recover (Their bodies and immune system are growing old. They’ll find it hard to recover [from Covid-19] if they’re not vaccinated),” she said.

However, dela Vega added, senior citizens with severe immune deficiency – human immunodeficiency virus – or undergoing chemotherapy must consult their doctors before deciding to be vaccinated.