Just watched BBC news and they asked doc questions And one question was can immune suppressant have the vaccine
Her reply was yes definitely & is very safe BUT they are not sure wether being immune suppressant may not mount the same immune support as someone who isn’t so wouldn’t get the same amount of protection as their bodies won’t respond in the same way as we don’t build up the same amount of antibodies, so there is some talk that the persons you live with will get it to protect you
Very interesting!
Was looking for a similar article I'd read on this, can't find it! Along with one, I think on an Endocrinology site, regarding those taking prednisolone and the advice to prescribers to may have to consider doubling up on doses if someone gets Covid! ? Sorry to be vague there, am trying to find it again.
When I read that it's a persons immune response that responds to the vaccine to give a person immunity I wondered then if it would work as good for us on immune suppressants.
Was listening to something on the radio this morning, the person talking said that doctors want to know more about the vaccine. Does it give a person immunity for a month, three months or a year? Does it stop a person from catching it, or does it reduce their symptoms? Seems to me there's an awful lot of unanswered question.
Yes that's what I was wondering too. My rheum nurse said that they didn't have any information yet except that they were safe if they're not live vaccines. Pfizer isnt
Not sure if this link will work and sorry if it doesn’t, but this was a BBC article from a couple of weeks ago talking about how antibody injections that bypass the immune are being trialled for the immuno-suppressed.
A friend of mine is involved in this trial. She told me it was for people who can't have the vaccine. She is the bravest person, in my eyes and I can't thank her enough
I also saw the BBC news report you mention. My thought were - not all immune suppressed people are the same!!!! I have very low CD4 count and low lymphocytes which have never recovered following FCR in 2017. I do not like the mRNA vaccines. The idea of coded instructions being put in my body telling it to replicate the Covid spike (although itself apparently harmless) is not something I am keen on given my low lymphocytes are unlike to being able to mount a response. I am leaning more to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (which has just been peer reviewed and found to be "safe" and effective). This is more like a conventional vaccine which is a stimulant to the body to produce an immune response rather than putting in instructions - a brand new technology the long term effects of which are unknown. A discussion with my haematology consultant last week did not provide me with a clear picture of what action to take. So I will be refusing the mRNA vaccine which is likely to be the one I am offered first. If I am then not given an option to have the Oxford vaccine, so be it, shielding continues. We all have to follow our own feelings on this I think. But this is my thinking and resolve.
I need to know which will work best for my B cell depleting infusions so I’ll wait for more info.
We all really would like to know from our rheumys which vaccines would benefit us most given our blood results, specific conditions and the meds we take. That info won’t be apparent I’m sure for all of us and hard to organise for so many patients, so it’s not straight forward but I never thought it would be,
What a puzzle it all is! I'm in no hurry at the moment to get this pfizer vaccine, My husband will have it as soon as he gets the"call", but I shall hang fire until there's some agreement among medics. But I feel more inclined towards the Oxford - it's more straightforward, easily stored and transported and uses known technology. And it should be available quite soon.
I can wait - I have no pressures on me like getting back to work. I take methotrexate and remsima (infliximab). I can't have live vacines; but that's the case for most of us. At the time of the flu vaccine this year, I was having remsima by infusion and was told to make sure there was 2 weeks between the infusion and vaccine. This rule has never applied to the methotrexate.
So, I'm assuming that a gap of some sort will be demanded between the covid vaccine and the remsima - which I now have by injection. The infusions were at 8 weekly intervals and therefore a gap wasn't difficult to arrange. The injections are every 2 weeks; so inevitably I will have to miss an injection, or 2. I'm just guessing that the gap will be 2 weeks; I really have no idea.
Never a dull moment!
bienassis x
The British society of rhuemotology have updated their guidance for the covid vaccine yesterday.
This is the organisation my rheumatologists take their advice from.
Hopefully it’s where all rheumatologists on the UK take their advice from. 🙂
I heard the same on the radio. The thing that struck me was ‘they don’t know yet’. It will also depend on how suppressed the immune system is, and I don’t think we are generally as suppressed as a person on chemo for example. The other thing to note is that some of the drugs we take have been used to treat COVID, so maybe we have some protection from those.
I’m not overly concerned because the other thing to remember is that as more people are vaccinated there’ll be less of the virus circulating in the population.
I have been wondering about vaccinations, given the fact that our immune systems are suppressed by the drugs/injections that we are on. I’m one of the oldies with RA and have been on immune suppressant drugs for many years.
I have been isolating since March, I am comfortable with this as I would rather stay safe. If I get called by my GP about having the vaccine I will take the opportunity to ask some questions. This seem to be the best thing for me. But, I like to read other people’s views.
June xx
That does sound interesting. I think my husband will be in the same category as me so we should get it together anyway.
It’s not a live vaccine 💉
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Covid vaccine 
