General Medicine and Global Health (GMGH), Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA; Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich
G. Chakafana
Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
D. Piñeiro
Universidad de Buenos Aires
F. J. Pinto
Santa Maria University Hospital, CAML, CCUL, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon
P. Perel
Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, World Heart Federation
K. Singh
Public Health Foundation of India, Gurugram, Haryana
J.-L. Eiselé
Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, World Heart Federation
D. Prabhakaran
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, Public Health Foundation India, Gurugram, Haryana, India World Heart Federation, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
K. Sliwa
Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town; Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town
The current COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health systems and communities globally. As such, several countries have embarked on national COVID-19 vaccination programmes in order to curb spread of the disease. However, at present, there isn’t yet enough dosages to enable vaccination of the general population. Different vaccine prioritization strategies are thus being implemented in different communities in order to permit for a systematic vaccination of individuals. Here, on behalf of the World Heart Federation, we emphasize the need for individuals with Cardiovascular disease to be prioritized in national vaccine prioritization programmes as these are high risk individuals.
