MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – New groups were approved for the vaccine starting March 1 in Wisconsin, but those with chronic illnesses are not currently approved.
“There really are a number of reasons people with diabetes need to be prioritized. Probably the best statistic I can give you, if you look at all of the deaths from COVID in the US, 40 percent of them are people with diabetes . ” said Bob Gabbay, scientific and medical director of the American Diabetes Association.
He says staff at the American Diabetes Association are concerned about access to the vaccine for diabetics. He says that those with Type 1 and Type 1 should be prioritized equally.
“We’ve been very active at both the federal and state levels, including in the state of Wisconsin, where we’ve worked with the governor’s staff to make them aware of this type of information so they can act on it.” Said Gabbay.
“There are people who have recently been diagnosed and are otherwise very, very healthy, with no other medical conditions, and their Parkinson’s disease is very mild, and for someone like this there may not be an urgent reason about someone else’s age, but Unfortunately, as Parkinson’s disease evolves and progresses, there are certain characteristics of Parkinson’s that make people more susceptible to the complications of COVID, “said Rebecca Gilbert, scientific director of the American Parkinson Disease Association.
Wisconsin Department of Health Assistant Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said when the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee looked at a number of factors to consider who should be prioritized for the vaccine.
“One was the risk of disease, and indeed the risk of death, faced by certain populations, and that is certainly why people over 65 were included in the recommendations,” she said
Van Dijk said 87% of deaths from COVID in Wisconsin were in people over 65 years of age.
“This mortality risk was very high in their considerations, but then they also took into account the exposure risk and which groups were also at the risk of exposure and the risk of spreading to other people,” she said.
She said people under 64 with chronic illness are another at risk group.
“This is certainly a group that is being considered for a subsequent phase and we are not changing that phase at this point, but I think vaccine supply will have an impact on when we can start the next phase, and hopefully with If we increase the vaccine supply, we will look at the next phase even earlier than we expected a few weeks ago. “
