Younger, vulnerable patients deserve vaccines

It has been impossible to get information on how to get my almost 50-year-old sister with Down syndrome a COVID-19 vaccination.

While I applaud the state’s effort to vaccinate health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities (e.g. assisted living, nursing homes, group homes) it frustrates me that perfectly healthy and active individuals at the lower end of the 65-and-over population have a defined path to vaccination while the extremely vulnerable under 65 do not (“Walmart mistakenly offered vaccine to under-65 crowd,” Feb. 12).

The average life expectancy for those with Down syndrome is about 60. Age-related disorders that contribute to COVID-19 vulnerability, which typically begin after age 65, begin much younger with DS patients, around age 40 to 50.

A study published by the Annals of Internal Medicine describes the risk as a “4-fold increased risk for COVID-19-related hospitalization and a 10-fold increased risk for COVID-19-related death in persons with Down syndrome”.

My view is that age alone should not be used as the only qualifier to receive a vaccination at the county- and state-run vaccination sites. The governor should open up the general vaccination site to adults with Down syndrome now.

My DS sister and I continue to self-isolate at home, waiting for her chance at a vaccine, while active and healthy 65-and-over folks receive vaccinations and head back out to restaurants, tennis courts and golf courses.

Colleen Wittick Longwood