Not enough elderly people getting vaccinated – Dr Forde

Concerned about the high COVID-19 death rate among the elderly, Head of Isolation Facilities Dr Corey Forde is pleading with Barbadians to get their grandparents vaccinated and boosted against the virus.

His call came on Thursday as he indicated that of the 39 deaths associated with the Omicron variant so far, eight people were fully vaccinated, one was partially vaccinated and the others were unvaccinated.

He noted that most of the elderly people who were being admitted to the isolation facilities were experiencing respiratory challenges, severe diarrhea or vomiting, or “kidney impairment”, while some had electrolyte imbalances.

Dr Forde said while medical practitioners were doing their best to save lives, he wanted residents to take more responsibility by taking their elderly loved ones for the COVID-19 jab and then follow up with a booster.

“Since the Omicron saga, there were a total of about 39 deaths and the median age was 72 years. I think we, as a country, certainly recognise the importance of our elderly population . . . and I think we need to pay special attention to this particular group at this time,” warned Dr Forde.

“I think for most of you across the country you need to check in on your elderly individuals . . . . Apart from being our brothers’ keeper or family’s keeper, we also need to do a few things – so apart from checking in on them we need to check their vaccination status. If you have them out there and they are not vaccinated, I am begging you, please, try to get them vaccinated,” he pleaded, adding that getting the third shot was also important.

“Yes, it is okay to have your two shots but it is also strategically important that people be appropriately boosted,” Dr Forde said, noting that there has been a tapering off of individuals coming for COVID-19 boosters.

He also stressed the importance of people seeking medical treatment early when they are ill and suspect they have contracted the virus.

“If you have your elderly grandma, your great-aunt or whoever at home and they are ill, bring them early. This is one of the challenges we saw among this population of deaths. Bring them early,” the isolation facility manager stressed.

He said if people were not comfortable with taking their relatives to the Harrison Point Isolation Facility, they should take them to assessment centres either in Belleville, St Michael or Mangrove, St Philip, after calling the general operation centre to set up an appointment.

Dr Forde recommended that after an elderly person recovers from the viral illness, follow-up assessments and monitoring should be done, especially if they complain of joint pains.

Up to Thursday morning, there were some 126 COVID-19 positive patients in isolation.

“In our primary isolation area we have 11 patients and that is not so bad, but we have three of them currently ventilated,” Dr Forde reported.

“You have another 31 persons in the ICU between primary isolation A, B and secondary, who are on oxygen therapy. So that is still quite significant . . . . In that area we have a total of 15 very ill elderly individuals above the age of 80. It is very heart-breaking. They are very ill. The prognosis is not that good and they have multiple comorbidities.”

While 24 individuals were admitted to the Harrison Point Isolation Facility on Wednesday night, 11 others were discharged and there were two deaths associated with the pandemic on Wednesday.

There were also three recorded deaths on Tuesday that were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic – a 67-year-old woman who was unvaccinated, a 90-year-old unvaccinated woman, and a 76-year-old fully vaccinated man.

Officials also reported that on Monday, an 84-year-old fully vaccinated man and a 75-year-old unvaccinated man died as a result of the COVID-19 virus.

Dr Forde stressed during Thursday’s press briefing that a lot of the deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic were among individuals who had multiple underlying health conditions.

He said the island’s case fatality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic was at about 0.73 per cent.

(MM)