One thing to remember about COVID-19 is that we are still learning, and we continue to learn. Also we do know that people with diabetes seem to develop more severe COVID 19 complications. It’s not that folks with diabetes are more susceptible to COVID 19, but if they develop COVID 19, the symptoms are far more severe and seems to progress quickly. This seems to happen both with type 2 and type 1 diabetes, and both seem to be prone to more severe complications though Type 1 patients may do better because they’re younger.

Type 1 diabetes is a disorder in which most of the insulin producing cells in the body are destroyed by an immune process. Type 2 diabetes involves an interaction between genetic predisposition and the environment, the environment in the sense that increased food intake, decreased physical activity, increased weight, interactions in their family history which provides the genes.

In people with diabetes there’s more inflammation within the body. And so, with COVID, that inflammatory state gets worse far more quickly, in order that might be one more reason. The second reason is that people with diabetes could be more susceptible to having problems with their circulation, they all have already got a bypass or a stroke or low blood flow to the legs or other factors like that. And then this was because there’s an additional circulatory problem on top of a background of circulatory issues. Blood flow as a result of clotting problems could be elevated by COVID. So, within all those bigger reasons there could also be smaller reasons nested.

So, you will find that people with diabetes were helped; adverse effects, really speaking, seem to be very minimal within the sense of getting maybe mild fever and headache, muscle aching, and joint discomfort. But that seems to last but 48 hours. So yes, people with diabetes should prioritize getting vaccinated.