As a Geriatrician and nursing home physician, I am saddened by how much unproven treatments/recommendations are foisted on these elderly patients because they are “high risk” and we should "do something” to help them and mitigate their risks. Even those doctors who don’t agree with the vaccine recommendations often say it should be reser…
As a Geriatrician and nursing home physician, I am saddened by how much unproven treatments/recommendations are foisted on these elderly patients because they are “high risk” and we should "do something” to help them and mitigate their risks. Even those doctors who don’t agree with the vaccine recommendations often say it should be reserved for nursing home and elderly patients. But as Vinay points out, why would I want to give it to these vulnerable patients if there is NO EVIDENCE that this vaccine booster helps anyone, and actually there is some indication that it might make them more susceptible to infection (https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofad209)? So even though the UK recommendation on the new booster is more sensible than the US, as Vinay says, “everyone is wrong". I don’t want to do something unless I have a good idea it will help my patients, even if they are 90 years old - especially if they are 90 years old
As a Geriatrician and nursing home physician, I am saddened by how much unproven treatments/recommendations are foisted on these elderly patients because they are “high risk” and we should "do something” to help them and mitigate their risks. Even those doctors who don’t agree with the vaccine recommendations often say it should be reserved for nursing home and elderly patients. But as Vinay points out, why would I want to give it to these vulnerable patients if there is NO EVIDENCE that this vaccine booster helps anyone, and actually there is some indication that it might make them more susceptible to infection (https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofad209)? So even though the UK recommendation on the new booster is more sensible than the US, as Vinay says, “everyone is wrong". I don’t want to do something unless I have a good idea it will help my patients, even if they are 90 years old - especially if they are 90 years old