It is important for persons with cardiovascular diseases to get vaccinated, and there need not be any apprehension in taking the vaccines, said doctors at a panel discussion organised by The Hindu in partnership with Kauvery Hospitals.
Addressing the online discussion on the topic ‘COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Diseases’ as part of the The Hindu ’s Wellness Series webinar on Saturday, T. Senthil Kumar, chief cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and executive director, Kauvery Heartcity, Tiruchi, said all patients could take any of the available vaccines for COVID-19. He said if a person had any concerns, they could always discuss with their doctor, but taking the vaccine was important.
K.P. Suresh Kumar, chief cardiologist, Kauvery Hospitals, Chennai, said the important role of COVID-19 vaccines was not to completely prevent the infection, but to prevent severe complications, hospitalisation and deaths.
S. Mullasri Ajit, director - cardiology, The Madras Medical Mission, said while there was a very remote chance of may be one in a lakh cases of a person developing a small complication after taking the vaccine, the risk of catching COVID-19 and becoming seriously ill or dying were far higher. Stressing on the need for not having any hesitancy towards vaccines, he said it was important to listen to scientists and medical professionals instead of blindly believing information from social media that could be false.
Highlighting that thrombosis or clotting of blood was a commonly observed risk for patients who recovered from COVID-19, Dr. Suresh Kumar said it was important for people who had moderate to severe case of COVID-19 and required hospitalisation to be on blood thinners for a few weeks. “Unless and until there are any contraindications to blood thinners, it is better to take them as per doctor’s advice in such cases,” he added.
Dr. Senthil Kumar said it was important not to postpone getting medical attention because of the hesitancy to visit hospitals during the pandemic. Pointing out that all the hospitals followed stringent COVID-19 related protocols, he said while some surgeries and treatment procedures could be postponed, it must be based on the advice of doctors.
