Individuals with advanced cardiovascular disease (CVD) should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination over those with well-managed CVD, according to a new recommendation from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
All CVD patients need a COVID-19 vaccine quickly, the ACC emphasized, but the risk is especially high for the “most vulnerable patients within the larger CVD group.”
“A coherent vaccine allocation strategy will consider the exposure risks and clinical risks of given individuals and populations,” Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, a professor of cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and co-chair of the ACC health policy statement, said in a prepared statement. “In addition, it will take into account those demographic populations that, for a variety of reasons, have additional risks that lead to higher rates of COVID-19 infection and severe health outcomes.”
The authors noted that hypertension, diabetes, obesity, atherosclerotic disease, heart failure, pre-existing arrhythmias, a prior heart transplant and pulmonary hypertension have all been associated with an increased risk of death or other poor COVID-19-related outcomes. Any older patients with multiple comorbidities—including frailty—should be prioritized over healthy older patients.
The full ACC health policy statement is available here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.