The Role of Vitamin D in Mitigating COVID-19 Infection Severity: Focusing on Reducing Health Disparities in South Carolina
The purpose of this study is to evaluate how useful vitamin D supplementation is in reducing the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and the body's inflammatory and infection-fighting response to COVID-19. Individuals ≥50 years of age and older who are tested for COVID-19 and negative will be randomized (like flipping a coin) to either daily high dose vitamin D supplementation (6000 IU vitamin D3/day) vs. standard of care. Those individuals ≥50 years of age or older who test positive for COVID-19 at baseline will be randomized to bolus vitamin D (20,000 IU/day for 3 days) followed by high dose (6000 IU vitamin D/day) vs. standard of care for 12 months. All participants will receive a multivitamin containing vitamin D.
⁃ Entry Criteria:
• --Adults aged 50 years of age or older who presents to MUSC or its affiliate hospitals (or associated testing centers) for COVID-19 testing during the recruitment period is eligible for participation.