Although representing almost half of people admitted to intensive care, obese people are not eligible for vaccination if they are under 50 years old.
- Obese people under the age of 50 consider themselves to be the great forgotten of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19.
- Only people with a BMI greater than 40 and those with a BMI greater than 30 with comorbidities can currently be vaccinated.
- However, even without comorbidities, obese people are more likely to develop a severe form of Covid-19 and to be admitted to intensive care.
Are obese patients the big forgotten in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19?
While vaccination is now open to all over 55s and 50-54 year olds with comorbidity, 3.5 million people feel sidelined. These are French people under 50 suffering from obesity, who must take their troubles patiently before hoping to receive their first dose.
Forgotten patients at risk
An aberration, if we are to believe these patients, who are now campaigning to be considered at risk. The numbers prove them right. Currently, among patients admitted to intensive care for severe Covid, 45% are obese. This figure even climbed to 47% at the start of the year. “We have known this from the start. We observe it in our service, as do colleagues in intensive care units everywhere, in France and elsewhere”thus asserts to 20 minutes Professor Djillali Annane, head of the intensive care unit at Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine).
However, studies clearly show that an overweight person presents a greater risk of contracting a severe form of Covid-19, and thus of being admitted to intensive care. This risk of complication increases further if she has associated pathologies, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, liver disease or hormonal disorders. Being very overweight is also associated with an increased risk of cancer, recalls Anne-Sophie Joly, president of the National Collective of Obese Associations (CNAO) at 20 minutes.
Asked about the airwavesEuropean 1Alina Constantin, 45 years old and obese, believes that obese patients are treated like “second-class citizens”. Like other very overweight patients, she will have to wait until the very last phase of the vaccination campaign to get her two doses, like anyone over 18 who is not considered to be at risk.
Inconsistencies to be clarified
To date, only people considered to be “at very high risk of severe form of coronavirus” are considered eligible for vaccination, details on its website the Ministry of Health. Among them, “obese people with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40, which are defined by the High Authority for Health (HAS)”says Dr. Claude Leicher, general practitioner. “As well as people with a BMI greater than 30 with comorbidities, even if there, it is not clearly established for the youngest”continues the doctor, who co-organizes the vaccination center in Valence, in the Drôme.
Faced with these uncertainties, and to better protect vulnerable obese people, even young people, some vaccination centers have decided to give them priority, in the same way as other patients with comorbidities. This is the case in Strasbourg, which opened this weekend a vaccination center specially dedicated to obese people over 18, in agreement with the Regional Health Agency of Grand-Est and the prefect. “You have to realize that, ultimately, very few people, even under 50, are ineligible. Obese people with a body mass index of more than 30 always have another risk factor”asserts to France News Professor Michel Pinget, who manages this new center.
An inconsistency that Agnès Maurin deplores. Questioned by Europe 1, the co-founder of the League against obesity denounces “territorial inequality”. “This means that when you live in Strasbourg, you can get vaccinated if you are 20 years old, but not elsewhere in the territory.” She is now calling for vaccination to be open to anyone who is obese, with no age limit, and recalls that nearly 40,000 people suffering from obesity have died of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
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