Update for people with liver disease on the Covid-19 vaccine

Update for people with liver disease on the Covid-19 vaccine

The recent news that a Covid-19 vaccine has been effective in trials will bring hope to liver patients, many of whom are clinically extremely vulnerable and might experience more severe symptoms if they were to catch the virus.

Although this is promising news, it’s worth keeping in mind that this vaccine still needs to be approved by regulators, manufactured on a large scale and distributed before it can be administered.

However, if the vaccine is approved, it could be given to some people in the UK later this year. The Department of Health and Social Care has published an interim ranking of vaccine priority groups which shows who might get a vaccine first based on clinical risk and age. This list is not definitive – it is likely to be amended once more is known about the vaccine. Where the virus is spreading in the UK at the time the vaccine becomes available could also impact who gets vaccinated first.

We know that liver patients have questions about the vaccine, its safety and its suitability for people who are immunosuppressed. We have been in touch with the Department of Health and Social Care to ask these questions on behalf of people with liver disease. We will let you know about any new information we receive about the vaccine as soon as we can via our website and social media channels.

In the meantime, if you have any other questions or concerns about Covid-19 vaccines, please let us know by emailing [e-mail]. For more general information for liver patients about Covid-19, please read our FAQs on the website.

[Richard-Allen]

I can’t help but feel that all this news hype about a Covid-19 vaccine is going to lull people onto a false sense of security. This is just a preventative solution and not a cure.

The present-day flu vaccine is only effective 67% of the time. People can have the flu vaccine and still go on to become infected with the flu. I can see many people believing this to be a cure for Covid, “Oh, I don’t have to wear a mask, I’ve been vaccinated”. This is not being made clear and the latest news stories are treating this as being a cure.

I shall still have it all the same, but I won’t become complacent and shall continue to wear a mask and take every sanitary precaution.

[Hidden in reply to Richard-Allen]

Me too. I will have the vaccine but will still take precautions.

[Millie09]

Thank you 😊

[Hidden]

Thank you for all your information. Much appreciated xxxx💜❤️