‘The issue of vitamin D supplementation has been extensively debated, with strong arguments in favour and against. The COVID-19 pandemic has further escalated the discussion. It has long been clear that groups that traditionally exhibit vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, such as older adults and nursing home residents, and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic populations, are the same groups that have also been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Additionally, increased time spent indoors due to strict lockdowns and shielding triggered concerns that some people might not obtain the necessary physiological levels of vitamin D from sunlight...
‘On Dec 17, 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in collaboration with Public Health England and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, published an updated rapid review of recent studies on vitamin D and COVID-19. Their recommendations support the current government advice, revised in April, 2020, during the first lockdown in the UK, for everyone to take vitamin D supplements to maintain bone and muscle health during the autumn and winter months... However, the rapid review concluded that sufficient evidence to support vitamin D supplementation with the aim of preventing or treating COVID-19 was still lacking and that the topic should be further investigated. Experts studying vitamin D welcomed the call for more research, but the lack of specific recommendations in the context of COVID-19 was also met with disappointment by many in the scientific community who have argued that vitamin D supplementation is generally safe and that any potential low toxicity would likely be strongly outweighed by any potential benefits in relation to protection from COVID-19.
‘NICE should continue to monitor new evidence as it is peer-reviewed and published, including results from several clinical trials on vitamin D and COVID-19 outcomes that are currently underway. However, particularly in countries where the pandemic situation continues to worsen (and will continue to do so during the winter months before the effects of vaccinations become perceptible), additional evidence could come in just too late. In an ideal world, all health decisions would be made based on overwhelming evidence, but a time of crisis may call for a slightly different set of rules.’ [blog editor’s emphasis]
Read here (The Lancet, Jan 11, 2021)
