Heart failure patients have stopped hugging their children when they return from school because they are terrified of contracting Covid-19.
Their fears emerged as studies show more than half of heart failure patients hospitalised with Covid are being killed by the virus – now the charity wants an “urgent review” of the vaccine priority list to include such patients.
Younger people living with severe heart failure are not deemed at very high risk under the national immunisation programme, prompting the HSE’s National Heart Programme to call for under 70s, along with in-patients awaiting cardiac surgery, to be moved from level seven to level four.
Pauline O’Shea from Ardnacrusha was diagnosed with heart failure at 38 and had heart surgery in 2012 after developing Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection – a tearing of the wall of the artery.
She’s had three heart attacks, gone into cardiac arrest and been in ICU on a ventilator.
She’s now among those afraid to hug her kids.
She spoke to Gavin Grace on Friday’s Morning Focus.
