Vaccine for immunosuppressed?

[john_p]

Will those who take biologic immunosuppressant medications be able to take the vaccine when it becomes available?

[Lolabridge]

Yes - according to Dr Sarah Jarvis on BBC Breakfast this morning.

[john_p in reply to Lolabridge]

That’s great news, thank you. I didn’t see it on the tv, but it’s a relief after hearing that we may be omitted. Thanks again

John

[AgedCrone in reply to john_p]

But do talk to whichever doctor prescribes the drugs you are on...don’t just join the queue without being sure. From what we read a lot of the people who will be administering the injection will not be clinicians .....they won’t be able to answer any of your questions ......so get all those questions answered before you hold out your arm.

[john_p in reply to AgedCrone]

Good advice- thank you.

[cropredy in reply to AgedCrone]

Jolly good advice. Stay well & keep safe.

[Sheila_G in reply to Lolabridge]

That is great news. I am sure that when the vaccine is available we will be told by Rheumatology what we have to do. Thinks are looking up. We still have a while to wait but there is a light at the end ot the tunnel to give us hope and encouragement for the future.

[AgedCrone in reply to Sheila_G]

It doesn’t matter when it happens........I would still always ask your doctor if the vaccine you are putting yourself forward to have is the right one for you. From what we read there is going to be more than one vaccine available. Look at the confusion there has been over who should/should not Shield. Presumably the same people will be circulating vaccine advice?

Personally I am not going to rely on waiting for written information from the rheumatology department.....I will ask my doctor ....or at least my Rheumy nurse which should I have?

[Sheila_G in reply to AgedCrone]

Fortunately my son is a Scientist and used to make the flu vaccines so he gives me lots of advice.

[helixhelix]

This is not going to be happening for quite a while yet, so plenty of time to learn about it all.

[Soundofmusic52]

Yes because it’s not a live vaccine same as flu vaccine so it’s fine

[nomoreheels]

Best not to take any new info as gospel just yet, it's too sketchy at the mo. I'd wait until we hear specific info from either our Rheumy team or our GP, they'll provide info relevant to us (not least due to the meds we're taking). We're not even sure yet where we'll be given the vaccine so lots yet still to be confirmed.

[Neonkittie17 in reply to nomoreheels]

I agree NMH. Hoping more information comes to light in the next few weeks. I hope we will be advised more from our rheumy nurses about the different vaccines for the immunosuppressed. I wouldn’t want to have a vaccine which wasn’t as suitable or as effective as another one more suited to our RA issues and depleted immunity. I will be speaking to my rheumy nurse soon about something else so will ask her what they have planned, if anything as yet. x

[Hidden in reply to Neonkittie17]

The vaccine for immunosupressed people being discussed on the radio was for people with severe suppression, e.g. those who are having aggressive cancer treatment. I don't think our DMARDs put us in that category as they said it is only a few thousand people and so only a small number of doses are being bought.We have no reason to think the coronavirus vaccine will be any more dangerous for us than a great many other vaccines that we have quite confidently. Even so, Aged Crone is right in saying it is best to check - belt and braces and all that. After my recent "adventure" being prescribed a drug that shouldn't be taken with methotrexate (even after I'd questioned if it was OK), I'll certainly be checking.

[Neonkittie17 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, agree those people are a in much greater category of risk as they’ll be taking their meds at a more intense/higher level. I didn’t hear the radio article. Maybe it might be on the iplayer if it was BBC. I think for the conventional DMARDs such as Mtx and Leflun those wouldn’t put us in a higher category of risk, as we’ve seen on the National Society of Rheumatology’s table of meds on their website. It is the biological DMARDs such a the B cell depleting infusion I take that I was trying to find if there was yet any info about. Too soon I think. I’ve been told by the rheumy nurse that a recent Rituximab infusion might interfere with the Covid vaccine just as if apparently can if given too near the flu vaccine. She is waiting for more info too. My meds are Rtx (and Mtx)

I have read a couple of medical/scientific reports online where this same subject of B cell depletion and Rtx is mentioned. It’s not an easy read and meant for other academics. It’s asking questions amd some of the things I want know, but hasn’t got answers yet.

[oldtimer]

There is little published information about the vaccines that will be available - most of the information I have read is from press releases, not scientific articles. Until it's possible to evaluate the various vaccines properly it's impossible to say whether they will work for us. But the discussions going on currently about people who are immunosuppressed seems to be about people who are on very much larger doses of medication than is given for Rheumatoid Disease, as it seems unlikely that they would be able to mount an immune response to any vaccine.

[Neonkittie17 in reply to oldtimer]

I’ve read some scientific articles from The Lancet online but they are a challenging read, even if you are quite knowledgeable, as they are scholarly ones. (Many interruptions to the text with figures and references.) I was trying to look at what they proposed re Rituximab and depletion of B cells and timing of the infusions and the vaccine. No one is sure of course with it being uncharted territory. x

[allanah]

Yes

[chunkypie]

I think there is a separate one being developed just for autoimmune suppressed people.

[essexgirl in reply to chunkypie]

I thought they said it was ok because it wasn’t a live vaccine ? .. unless I heard it wrong

[Bojedo in reply to essexgirl]

I understand that this vaccine is separate from both the live/not live vaccines. This vaccine does not introduce the virus to the body. It consists of only a small segment of the RNA of the virus. It begins to replicate in certain cells , which activates our immune response, and production of antibodies.

[vonniesims in reply to essexgirl]

Yes but it acts on T cells I think, which is what some of our medications do

[orange33]

Strangely it had crossed my mind about this being on Rituximab and mtx. But I will ask about it. Not GP though. Thanks for the question.