Senior citizens are ‘best candidates’ for Covid-19 vaccination, says expert

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MANILA, Philippines — Senior citizens are the “best candidates” for Covid-19 vaccination since they are at risk of severe infection or death due to Covid-19, a health expert said Tuesday.

Dr. Shelley Ann dela Vega, director at the Institute on Aging, National Institute of Health in the University of the Philippines Manila, noted that senior citizens are at risk of severe infection to coronavirus considering their age and possible comorbidities.

“Senior citizens therefore are the best candidates for Covid-19 vaccines. And are they safe? This is the first question that they ask—are Covid-19 vaccines safe for senior citizens—and the answer is yes,” she said in a media forum hosted by the Department of Health (DOH).

Dela Vega pointed out that vaccines that will be given to elderly people are safe as long as these were approved for use and proven effective for seniors.

She noted that even the approval of the vaccines at the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration already proves the safety of the jabs.

“From the approval of the vaccine, that is already a level of safety. [From] vaccine storage and handling, site preparedness, we know that they have trained the people in the sites that will administer the vaccine,” she said.

“There are also screening of the older people, senior citizens, at the vaccine site when they get there. So they will be asked, may lagnat ba kayo? Kahit ikaw ay may highblood, diabetic ka, may hika ka, pwede ka pa rin mabakunahan. Hindi ‘yan contraindication,” she added.

(They will be asked if they have fever. Even if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or asthma, you can be vaccinated. Those are not contraindications.)

According to dela Vega, senior citizens with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and even those undergoing dialysis, can and should be vaccinated and do not need to get clearance from their doctors prior to getting the vaccine.

She said only senior citizens who may have severe immune deficiency, such as those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or are undergoing chemotherapy or in cancer remission, should need to consult a doctor before being vaccinated.

Dela Vega also noted that the elderly people who died in Norway after receiving the Pfizer shots were “very frail nursing home patients with multiple medical problems.”

“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,” dela Vega reiterated.

“‘Yan lang ang proteksyon nila eh. Tumatanda na ang katawan pati ang immune system. Kung hindi pabakunahan, mas mahirap silang magrecover. And Covid vaccines are generally safe and only the most effective brand for senior citizens will be recommended for them,” she concluded.

(That is their only protection. Their bodies are aging and their immune system is getting weak. If they will not be vaccinated, it will be harder for them to recover. And Covid vaccines are generally safe and only the most effective brand for senior citizens will be recommended for them.)

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