Emerging data show that the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 are being disproportionately borne by individuals who are not only biologically, but also socially vulnerable. Based on preliminary data from Sweden and other reports, in this paper we propose a conceptual framework whereby different factors related to biological and social vulnerability may explain the specific COVID-19 burden among older people. There is already some evidence showing large social disparities in the prevention, treatment, prognosis and/or long-term consequences of COVID-19. The remaining question is to what extent these affect older adults specifically. We provide the rationale to address this question with scientific methods and proper study designs, where the interplay between individuals’ biomedical status and their social environment is the focus. Only through interdisciplinary research integrating biological, clinical and social data will we be able to provide new insights into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and inform actions aimed at reducing older adults’ vulnerability to COVID-19 or other similar pandemics in the future.

新兴数据表明，COVID-19对健康和经济的影响不仅在生物学上而且在社会上都处于弱势地位。基于瑞典的初步数据和其他报告，本文提出了一个概念框架，其中与生物学和社会脆弱性相关的不同因素可以解释老年人中特定的COVID-19负担。已经有一些证据表明在COVID-19的预防，治疗，预后和/或长期后果方面存在巨大的社会差异。剩下的问题是这些因素在多大程度上会影响老年人。我们提供了用科学的方法和适当的研究设计来解决这个问题的理由，其中个人的生物医学状态与其社会环境之间的相互作用是重点。