Kidney patients need vaccination

DR Emile Mohammed of the North West Regional Health Authority's (NWRHA) parallel healthcare system urged kidney/dialysis patients to get vaccinated, warning that they were especially vulnerable to the covid19 virus. He was addressing the Ministry of Health's televised update on the pandemic on Monday.

Mohammed said his warning was in line with the findings of a major UK study which had found dialysis/kidney problems posed a worse risk of death to someone infected with covid19 than all other co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes and lung disease. He remarked, "It really was devastating what covid was doing to the dialysis and kidney population."

Mohammed said the NWRHA has given regular dialysis treatment to 259 kidney patients who were also covid19 positive. However, 30 per cent of these have died of the virus.

"So for a kidney or dialysis patient the chances of dying from covid are almost one in three. That's how devastating it has been for our vulnerable dialysis population."

He said it was worrying how many kidney patients had got covid19 in the past six months. He noted that unlike most people who could stay home, these patients were compelled to travel for dialysis, exposing them to covid19. Mohammed said any dialysis patient has a suppressed immune system and so was vulnerable to infection, such that they should get vaccinated.

However, these patients had a low rate of vaccination, he lamented, even as he urged them to get the jab.