MADISON, Wisconsin – Of the 20 conditions that will make someone part of the next large group eligible for a vaccine in Wisconsin, there is one that is receiving a lot of attention: the body mass index.
Anyone aged 16 or over with a BMI of 25 or older will become eligible on March 29. About 2 million Wisconsin residents will then become eligible, including people with conditions like asthma, cancer and Down syndrome.
Studies show that being overweight contributes to a worse reaction to coronavirus. The CDC says that obesity can triple the risk of hospitalization and, as your BMI increases, so does the risk of death from COVID.
But just as there are varying degrees of asthma or diabetes, there are also varying degrees of excess weight. Someone with a BMI of 25 may look thin and healthy.
“The Green Bay Packers are probably all eligible for the 1C group,” said Dr. Matt Anderson of UW Health. “Because muscle mass is obviously contributing. You may have high BMI for people who may not have the same levels of risk. “
Having a young, muscular athlete becoming eligible on the same day as cancer patients and others with serious health problems leaves it to vaccinators to prioritize who gets the injection first.
DHS gave some ideas on how pharmacies, public health departments and healthcare systems can do this.
“How to perhaps prioritize individuals with two or three high-risk conditions. Or maybe it starts with younger adults 50-64 years old with a high-risk condition, and then move on to the younger age group, ”said Mo Kharbat, VP of Pharmacy Services at SSM Health Wisconsin.
Kharbat said that SSM Health has not yet decided how to prioritize the next group. UW Health also does not.
But Dr. Anderson said the process is likely to include patients who identify themselves as eligible.
“It is incredibly challenging to find out who these people are. How can we identify them? And we will depend on them to help us identify who they are. Because if we try to assume all that responsibility, we will miss people, ”said Anderson.
He said that deciding who has the chance before who is going to be challenging, gray and messy.
“It won’t be perfect, it won’t be. And it is very difficult. How do you differentiate between someone who has cancer and someone who is immunosuppressed for condition 1, 2 or 3? How do you do this in relation to someone who has COPD? Or chronic heart failure? There will be a large, large number of people with these conditions, ”said Anderson.
We may see someone who is young, slightly overweight, but relatively healthy, getting an injection before someone who has a serious and chronic health problem.
Anderson encourages young, healthy people to be patient and allow those most at risk to get the vaccine first.
COPYRIGHT 2021 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, TRANSMITTED, RECOMMENDED OR REDISTRIBUTED.