PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A year into the coronavirus pandemic, researchers are learning a lot about who is most at risk of serious illness and death.
In particular, people with intellectual disabilities need to be protected from COVID-19, according to Dr. Jonathan Gleason, executive vice president and the James D. and Mary Jo Danella chief quality officer for Jefferson Health.
"In our study of 64,000,000 patients that are established at a large number of hospitals across the country, we identified that people with intellectual disabilities were two and a half times more likely to present with a COVID-19 diagnosis. And sadly, they were also nearly six times more likely to die of COVID-19."
He says the reasons for these awful statistics are understandable.
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"People with intellectual disabilities are unable to use behavioral risk mitigation strategies as well as people with typical abilities. For example, they may be less likely to be able to wear a mask 100% of the time, and to socially distance and maybe to remember to wash their hands."
Gleason stresses that people with intellectual disabilities should have a way to easily sign up for a coronavirus vaccination sooner rather than later, and have the transportation needed to get to those appointments.
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