Vitamin D and its Effects on COVID-19

Vitamin D plays an important role in supporting the immune system. Its expression on vital immune cells like B, T, and antigen-presenting cells has become an important topic of research in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of vitamin D is vital not only to supporting the role of bones and muscle development, but also in its involvement in the regulation of mood and the immune system. This “sunshine vitamin”, due to its role in developing immunity within both adaptive and innate forms, is important to investigate with regards to disease prevention. There has been a recent push by many researchers to increase the recommended dosage of vitamin D because research shows that vitamin D deficiency can increase susceptibility to communicable diseases such as SARS-CoV-2. In this paper, we plan to highlight the immediate need to increase the national recommended dosage for Vitamin D due to the current population statistics indicating a significant overall deficiency, especially in areas with a high population density and within many minority groups. The purpose of this paper is also to highlight how the public’s vitamin D deficiency may also be contributing to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis as well.