EXPANDING THE LIST
Those with Type 1 diabetes and other medical conditions can get the vaccine
People with Type 1 diabetes, certain neurological conditions, who are immunocompromised or who suffer from substance use disorders are among the Massachusetts residents who will now be eligible for coronavirus vaccines beginning on Monday.
The Baker administration updated its list of eligible medical comorbidities on Friday to better align with new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on who should be prioritized for the potentially life-saving shots.
“It is fantastic. It’s so important that Type 1 is recognized above the bottom tier in terms of health care and policy. It is such a relief,” said Arlington resident Jessica
von Goeler, a longtime Type 1 diabetes patient who’d started an online petition asking state officials to prioritize the condition for vaccination.
New additions to the state’s list of eligible medical conditions include dementia or other neurological conditions, Type 1 diabetes, hypertension, HIV infection, liver disease, being overweight, thalassemia, stroke and substance use disorders.
Other existing categories were expanded to incorporate more conditions: Having an immunocompromised state is no longer limited to recipients of a solid organ transplant, and several types of chronic lung conditions are eligible instead of just chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“It’s a very good thing,” said disabilities advocate Danielle Kempe of Quincy, though she worried “it’s going to be a rush for everybody to get vaccinated again.”
The CDC issued updated guidance on medical conditions that put adults at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness on Monday. The Baker administration expanded its list on Friday, three days before adults ages 55 or older or those with one medical comorbidity can sign up for shots, starting Monday.
The state plans later next week to roll out a way for people enrolled in the mass vaccination site preregistration system to update their eligibility information.
Some questions remained Friday about whether certain conditions were eligible. Tayloir Spain, a Weymouth mom who has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain’s cavities, didn’t know if she qualified due to those conditions. But she said she now qualifies for being overweight.
“These changes help,” Spain said, but people are still “falling through the cracks.”
Patients and doctors from all sectors of the medical community had been asking to get more health conditions added to the vaccine list, with some of the loudest advocacy coming from the disabilities and Type 1 diabetes communities.
“Generally speaking, we’ve adopted the CDC guidelines for our phased enrollment,” Gov. Charlie Baker said earlier this week.
The one major exception until now had been for moderate-to-severe asthma, which Baker added to the list after the Herald first reported that the condition, which is highly prevalent in many Massachusetts communities hardest hit by the virus, was initially excluded from both the state and CDC guidelines.