NephroPlus, the dialysis care network, is organising a national education drive on COVID vaccination for dialysis patients across their centres. The aim of the initiative is to dispel certain myths associated with taking the vaccine and encourage them by addressing their concerns on the safety and efficacy of vaccine.
Dialysis patients are at a very high risk of getting COVID-hit, as they have very low immunity compared to healthy individuals. The international journal, ‘Kidney International Reports’, had said that COVID-19 prevalence among dialysis patients is about 20 times higher than healthy population.
Around 99% of patients admitted to hospital had to stay for a minimum of 12 days with mortality amongst those infected about 23%, and mortality among those > 55 years of age three times higher than those <30 years old.
“Increasing cases are a matter of concern. Dialysis patients are highly immune-compromised and so they have to visit a dialysis centre three times a week, and therefore are at a high risk of contracting coronavirus. So, we really need to work hard to get most of them vaccinated as soon as possible,” said founder and CEO Vikram Vuppala and co-founder Kamal D. Shah, in a press release.
