LISTEN: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending people over 50 receive a vaccine against pneumonia. Prior to this, the age was 65. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge reports.

a health care provider listens to a patient's lung
Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Karyne Jones can tell you how a cough can turn into a near-fatal case of pneumonia.

"I thought it was a really bad cold," she said.

When the pain in her chest worsened from coughing, Jones went to the doctor who prescribed medication for bronchitis, but she found no relief.

An emergency room doctor later diagnosed pneumonia.

"They did all the treatments that they could possibly do to help me with not only my breathing, but to relieve me of the cough," Jones said. "But it was just — you just feel horrible."

She was 64 years old and, at the time, ineligible for a pneumococcal vaccination because she was too young.

"At one point there, I really thought this was it for me," Jones said. "But, fortunately, I am sort of healthy and was able to recover, but I was not able to get the vaccine at the age I was. So when I became eligible, I did."

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Jones knows how important vaccinations are to public health, especially in communities of color and among people without health insurance or access to providers, because she serves as executive director of the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging.

Poor health equity, chronic diseases and the same things that have created the disparity in health contribute to low vaccination rates among people 65 and older, Jones said. Of that small group who are vaccinated against pneumonia, 53% are Black Americans as compared to 69% who are white.

"We just know the impact of these diseases and these bacteria and viruses, how they impact our community," Jones said. "And when you lower (the recommended age for pneumococcal vaccination), you just help with our life expectancy outcomes."

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