Can COVID-19 vaccines be safely given to frail and elderly people?
There are no safety concerns around giving COVID-19 vaccine to older and frail adults. Multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates have shown to protect against severe disease in older age groups. A guidance statement has been produced.
Guidance statement for COVID-19 vaccination of frail elderly
Guidance has been prepared to clarify the use of the COVID-19 vaccination for the frail elderly.
In general, it is recommended that all eligible adults, including the frail and elderly with comorbidities are offered vaccination against COVID-19, if there are no contraindications to its administration, to provide protection for the individual as well as their community.
As with all clinical interventions, there needs to be an individual risk/benefit appraisal and shared decision making between clients, whanau, surrogate decision makers, and clinicians on the individual and collective benefits and risk of COVID-19 vaccination. For frail elderly people with a prognosis of a short number of weeks (including those in terminal decline or on an end of life care pathway) the individual risk/benefit appraisal will be particularly important.
A single dose of COVID-19 vaccine substantially reduced (over 70%) the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalisation in elderly, frail patients with extensive co-existing conditions in the UK. By 2 weeks after the second dose effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 in adults aged over 70 years was 85-93%. This is important, as increasing age is a risk factor for severe COVID-19.
Following reports of deaths of frail, elderly adults in residential care facilities after COVID-19 vaccination, independent reviews by both the CDC and the WHO concluded that the mortality rate in this population is typically high and a substantial number of deaths will occur coincidentally following vaccination. For further information, click here.
When vaccinating an elderly person who has an intercurrent or comorbid condition, it is wise to ensure they are stabilised or as well as possible before they have the vaccine. Following vaccination ensure good hydration and careful management of potential systemic adverse events, such as fever. It is advisable for them to be with someone else for 24 hours after receipt of the vaccine to help manage such adverse events.
Reference
- Shrotri M, Krutikov M, Palmer T, et al. Vaccine effectiveness of the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2 infection in residents of long-term care facilities in England (VIVALDI): a prospective cohort study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2021 Jun 23.