The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) asked the health providers who send the list of oncology, diabetic and obese patients over 18 for prioritize them in vaccination. The authorities are working on the preparation of the lists received until May 12 and have already begun to distribute the agendas.
“The MSP seeks ensure prioritization of vaccination in patient groupss carriers of comorbidities who have demonstrated worsening prognosis in case of contracting the disease “, indicated the request that the portfolio sent to the providers on May 4, according to the document accessed The Observer.
The providers have already sent the list of patients and the Director General of the National Board of Health, Luis González Machado, said the information is being processed and that the prioritization will be communicated “as of next Tuesday.” Anyway, as he was able to verify The Observer, some cancer patients have already started receiving confirmation messages.
The vaccination of these people will be with the doses of Pfizer, According to Minister Daniel Salinas and Undersecretary José Luis Satdjian told Colorado Senator Carmen Sanguinetti in a meeting held on Tuesday.
The senator, who had insisted on prioritizing people with Down syndrome and cancer patients, said that “the academic consensus indicates that Pfizer is the most protective vaccine” and that is why it was decided to administer these vaccines to the prioritized group.
However, several cancer patients have already been vaccinated by their age group with Sinovac and, in those cases, it will not be necessary to repeat the vaccination with Pfizer. A part of those people who requested the vaccine through the mail have also already been covered [email protected], that “process many requests” in that sense, said Salinas.
“Both vaccines are effective. Until now, it has been done as in the whole world, priority by age group, and now it is being prioritized due to some pathologies and comorbidities, but people who have already been vaccinated with Sinovac do not have any problems “said the president of the Uruguayan Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology (Sompu), Luis Ubillos.
Patients in treatment
The coordinator of the National Cancer Program of the MSP, Marisa Fazzino, explained that chemotherapy patients should be vaccinated, But before doing so, it is necessary to consult with the treating oncologist.
The recommendation of the MSP, the Chair of Clinical Oncology of the Faculty of Medicine and the Sompu is that patients who are in treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy get vaccinated before starting it.
In turn, for patients who have already started treatments, oncologists recommend avoid vaccinating the first dose during that period because “it may reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.” “It’s recommended do not suspend or interrupt systemic treatment nor radiant to carry out the vaccination, “said the document of recommendations.
The injection, in those cases, is suggested to be “after hematological recovery has been achieved, in general immediately before the next cycle of treatment, “explained the professor of Clinical Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine Lucía Delgado.
In turn, in patients who are receiving immunotherapy or hormone therapy, there is no specific recommended time to receive the first dose.
Priority to obese patients
The list that health providers sent to the MSP it also included patients suffering from obesity and that they will also be prioritized to get vaccinated.
These people are the ones who suffered the most serious symptoms of covid-19. In fact, eight out of ten patients admitted to ICS during April due to covid-19 they were obese, according to information compiled by the Uruguayan Society of Intensive Medicine (SUMI). That is, of the 1,281 people who entered intensive care in the first 28 days of the fourth month of the year, 1,025 were obese.
“These are people who have a Body Mass Index estimated higher than 30%”, He explained to The Observer the president of SUMI, Julio Pontet on May 1st. While overweight is estimated from 25%, obesity is from 30%.
Pontet added that many of these people only have this comorbidity and, furthermore, this leads to a change in the income profile because the average age falls since many are young.
The request to prioritize the obese had been highlighted at the end of April by the president of the Administration of State Health Services (ASSE), Leonardo Cipriani. “With whom has been the most voracious (P1), and especially in the young patient, it is the overweight and obese patient “he said at a press conference after inaugurating new CTI beds at the Maciel Hospital.
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