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Obese people are first in the vaccination line for the pandemic.
But now experts Bear Svenson and Joanna Udden Hemingson believe that even those with “natural obesity” should be allowed to take the lead on the waiting list.
Obesity is a risk factor like all others, and it is as powerful as diabetes, says Bear Svenson Science Radio.
Just over 2.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed in Sweden. So far, it is the elderly who have mainly received the injections, but now is the time to enter vaccination phase III on a large scale, which includes the younger people in the high-risk group.
Obese people, that is, people with a BMI greater than 40, are considered to be in the risk group and thus are in a priority place on the vaccination queue.
Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
Researchers believe that more obese people should be included in stage 3, and thus be vaccinated before the rest of the population.
“Natural obesity should be included.”
But Per Svenson, a researcher and cardiologist at the Karolinska and Södersjökhuset Institute in Stockholm, believes that more obese people should be included in Stage III, according to Vetenskapsradion.
Photo: Karolinska Institute
Researcher Per Svenson.
I can totally believe that “normal” obesity should be included in that group, based on our findings. They still clearly say obesity is a risk factor like all others, and it is as strong as diabetes, says Bear Svenson on the program.
He studied 1,000 HIV-positive patients who required respiratory care and concluded that obesity is an independent and distinct risk factor.
In all, more than a million Swedes have a BMI of 30 or higher. Consequently, people who suffer from “normal obesity” must move, according to Peer Svenson, from the fourth stage of vaccination to the third stage.
It is not considered a real disease
Photo: Private
Dr. Joanna Odin Hemmingson.
On the other hand, the Swedish Public Health Agency does not agree with this, and currently only gives obese people a higher priority on the vaccination waiting list.
We know obesity is not perceived by many people as a “real disease”. Now I would like the Public Health Agency to stand up to such biases and actually prioritize obesity so that people with obesity are vaccinated in Stage III, says Joanna Ouddin Hemingson, a doctor from the Swedish Association for Obesity Research to Vetenskapsradion.
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