Photo/Illutration Staff administering vaccinations examine preliminary diagnosis sheets on June 22, 2021, in Sapporo. (Pool)

SAPPORO--This northern city is winning plaudits for having had the foresight to embark on a specialized vaccination program to protect patients with kidney problems from COVID-19.

The city's public health center said Aug. 16 that no individual undergoing dialysis was infected with the novel coronavirus from the latter half of June through the end of July, as full-scale efforts swung into action in late May to inoculate dialysis patients earlier than other residents.

Of 118 infected dialysis patients reported in Sapporo during the fourth wave of infections from April through the end of June this year, more than 50 percent died, according to the regional health center.

“The city’s decision to vaccinate dialysis patients first was a brilliant idea,” said Masayuki Koyama, an assistant professor of public health studies at Sapporo Medical University who is working with the center to combat the ongoing health crisis. “I hope this system can be adopted nationwide to protect other dialysis patients from infection.”

As many dialysis patients suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders, they are more likely to develop severe symptoms if they become infected with the novel coronavirus.

During the fourth wave, cluster infections flared at medical centers in Sapporo. Because hospital rooms for dialysis treatment accommodate more beds, patients often were placed in close proximity.

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A cylinder, top left, removes waste substances in blood collected from the arm of a patient under dialysis at a medical center in Sapporo. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Authorities said that of the 118 dialysis patients who were infected while hospitalized or receiving treatment at 18 medical centers in Sapporo, 63, or 53.4 percent, died during the period. Those in their 60s or older accounted for 56 of the fatalities.

The mortality rates for all generations over the age of 60 exceeded 50 percent. 

Given that fewer young people received jabs around that time, four patients in their 40s and three individuals in their 50s also died. The fatality ratios for those in their 40s and 50s were 33.3 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

Starting from mid-May, Sapporo city authorities met with health experts and medical organizations to discuss what steps to take.

The municipality in late May notified hospitals offering dialysis to inoculate patients against COVID-19 on a preferential basis.

As a result, no infection was reported among dialysis patients from June 17 through the end of July.

(This article was written by Aki Sato and Ichiro Matsuo.)

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