This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)- Family medicine doctor at Baton Rouge General, Dr. Jacob Wood is asking high blood pressure patients to consider getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, over 65 percent of those who die from COVID-19 are also high blood pressure patients.

“It’s extremely important. Their chances of ending up having severe illness, if they do contact the virus are a lot higher,” Dr. Wood said.

According to Dr. Wood, research from the COVID-19 vaccine trials show no indication of the vaccine negatively reacting to high blood pressure medication.

“There is no evidence that they are at higher risk for side effects from the vaccine. So, the vaccine should be just as safe for patients with hypertension as it is for everybody else,” he said.

Dr.Wood wants high blood pressure patients to understand their vulnerability.

“They need to be aware that they are at a higher risk and at significantly greater benefit from being vaccinated than people without hypertension.”

Dr. Wood is encouraging patients who are not yet eligible for the vaccine to continue following COVID-19 mitigations like wearing a face mask and practice social distancing.

He wants to remind others to continue wearing a face mask to protect yourself and those with underlying health conditions.

More information on eligibility for the vaccine is available here.