COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Lagging in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease

FRIDAY, Jan. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 immunization completion is nearly half for people with versus without sickle cell disease (SCD), according to a research letter published online Jan. 8 in JAMA Network Open.

Hannah K. Peng, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues assessed COVID-19 immunization coverage among 3,424 Michigan residents with SCD (5 years of age and older) versus 9.4 million residents without SCD.

The researchers found that COVID-19 immunization coverage for people with SCD was 33.5 percent, versus 61.3 percent for people without SCD (relative risk, 0.55). Immunization completion increased with age for people with SCD (range, 17 to 74 percent) and without SCD (range, 25 to 87 percent). By age group, relative risks were 0.68 for 5 to 11 years, 0.75 for 12 to 17 years, 0.58 for 18 to 64 years, and 0.84 for 65 years and older. 

"These results are consistent with findings from health system-based studies in which fewer than half of patients with SCD completed the vaccination series," the authors write. "Misinformation and mistrust are reasons frequently associated with low COVID-19 immunization completion in the SCD community, which are also common throughout the Black population in the United States."

Abstract/Full Text