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People born in Asia and Africa are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19. Doctors and medical students are now calling for these groups to be prioritized in the Norwegian vaccine queue.
The corona pandemic has affected some immigrant groups more strongly than the rest of the population, according to a report from the National Institute of Public Health. Now, a group of doctors is asking that the results of the report be taken into account when authorities prioritize who should receive the vaccine first.
– Here we have data that shows an increase in mortality in a certain group of people, and then we have a vaccine program that will be implemented. It goes without saying that you have to take a stand, says Patji Alnæs-Katjavivi, chief physician at Ullevål hospital in Klassekampen.
The hardest hit
Particularly affected are people born in Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Eritrea and Iran, states a report from the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), published on December 3.
In a post that Alnæs-Katjavivi has written together with three medical students and associate professor and Dr. Anne Kveim Lie in Klassekampen on Thursday, the call is clear: people born in Africa and Asia “should be among the priorities when distributed. vaccines. “
– The proportion of deaths among those born in Africa is almost double and the proportion who have received respiratory treatment is more than five times that of those born in Norway. This is despite the fact that the proportion with a severe outcome should have been lower given that it is a significantly younger population, they write, among other things.
– Most important age
– We cannot understand more than with the knowledge that now exists about risk factors for morbidity and death, those born abroad from the specified areas should be among the priorities when it comes to distributing vaccines, they write.
Preben Aavitsland, FHI’s chief physician, says he understands the concern. But now he doesn’t want to prioritize the foreign-born.
– Age overshadows other factors. So we start with the older ones and work our way up to age 65. Then we will return to the later order, write in an email to Klassekampen.
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