The Biden government on Thursday announced new plans to allocate Covid-19 vaccines to dialysis centers across the country. This new partnership with dialysis clinics is an effort to vaccinate people on dialysis, as well as health professionals in dialysis clinics.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, applauded the partnership in a written statement released Thursday, saying she is “proud” that the CDC has partnered with dialysis providers to support vaccination of the majority of dialysis patients and health personnel.
“This effort is another important step to ensure that vaccines reach the most vulnerable communities from a medical point of view and that equity continues to anchor our efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” Walensky said in the statement.
Dialysis is used to treat people with kidney failure, which affects more than half a million people in the United States, and most people go to a dialysis center for treatment.
“Each year, more than 550,000 people receive regular dialysis treatments through Medicare’s End-Stage Kidney Disease Program. The dialysis partners’ effort will integrate clinics participating in the Medicare program to administer COVID-19 vaccines to their patients. and staff, “said Walensky, adding that dialysis units already have” long standing “experience in administering vaccines, such as flu and hepatitis B vaccines.
Walensky added that people on dialysis tend to have more severe results when they contract Covid-19, half require hospitalization and 20% to 30% die, she said.
“In addition, advanced stage chronic kidney disease disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities, including African-Americans, Hispanics and American / Native American Indians,” said Walensky. “Dialysis clinics provide an innovative and reliable way to help COVID-19 vaccines reach populations that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In response, the nonprofit American Kidney Fund issued a statement on Thursday applauding the White House’s decision to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to dialysis centers. The American Society of Nephrology tweeted a link to the White House announcement about the dialysis program, calling it “big news”.