I had a face to face appointment today with my rheumatologist. He was keen to update me about his understanding of the latest research as it applies to the two drugs, methotrexate and Benapali which I take. He was very clear that Benapali did not affect the efficacy of the covid vaccines. However methotrexate did. He advised me that I should be invited for a booster and that I should not take methotrexate for two weeks prior to the booster jab. Also that I should continue to take Benapali as research was showing this had no effect on lessening the effectiveness of the vaccine.
I hope this may reassure some who take Benapali but it is a bit a worry for those on methotrexate. It ain't freedom day for me. ☹️
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Mall
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Thank you for sharing this information. I take mtx. When I had my covid jabs I was told to stop it two weeks before and after each jab- the same with my biologic, Cimzia. However, the nurse said that I'd be ok to do this as my RA is in remission. It all depends on individual circumstances I guess. It's good to hear that research is being done.
That advice was for you Mall…it might not apply to anybody else….look how differently people react to Mtx….could be the same to the way they process a vaccine when on it….& on the dose they are prescribed.
But since no one yet knows what the different levels of antibodies signify in terms of protection it’s all pretty unhelpful.
I’m going on the fact that it is rare for vaccinated people to get life threatening covid whether immune-compromised or not. So am going to continue to be careful, but live as normally as possible and do normal things.
It’s the death rate that I focus on, and that is increasingly low. There will always be some cases in fully vaccinated people as no vaccine is 100% perfect.
Think of it this way, once everyone has been vaccinated then 100% of new covid cases will be in fully vaccinated people. But there may only be a few hundred actual cases rather than the hundreds of thousands before vaccination was possible.
I accept there will always be some deaths amongst fully vaccinated people but 60% of hospitalised patients being double jabbed as reported yesterday seemed high, given less, i.e. 40% were either unjabbed or single jabbed. Made me think some people currently unjabbed would view it as the efficacy of the jab not being high enough for them to take up the offer.
However, apparently Prof W got it wrong (thanks Gymcactus) therefore not as bad as initially thought.
Later on Twitter feed Professor Whitty apologized that he reported that fact wrong, he should have said 60% are unvaccinated. Sounds better doesn't it.
I saw that too but when I was telling my husband he said that it wasn't as an article today says the Health secretary back tracked later and said that it should have been 40%. I still think 40% is high considering how we were told how much 1 vaccination would help but 2 would be much much more. I asked my Dr last week if the flu vaccine takes on immune suppressed people and she answered that she wondered that herself.
Exactly what I was thinking, but I suppose the Delta variant has messed up the original message about vaccine efficacy as it's more transmissible than the former variants.
As JVT said yesterday unless you stand alone in a field and don't mix you're upping your risk of catching it the more you mix, especially in poorly ventilated places.
It's good to note people are still wearing masks in shops where I live - Cambridgeshire.
I live in Cambridge. The only place I have been is to a garden centre or medical appointments. I am pleased to say the garden centre sent a text saying all safety measures were still in place and asked customers to wear masks still and my Dr's surgery are asking people to do a test before going.
I stopped taking mtx and enbrel a week before my vaccinations and the week after. I just thought it was a bit silly putting drugs into my body that suppresses my immune system when the vaccination relied on my immune systems response. I was selected to do an at home covid antibody test which I did just over two weeks after my second Pfizer vaccination and the result was I'd got longer lasting antibodies.
My rheumy told me to stop a week of mtx before and after the vaccination. I have the Pfizer 1st jab 4 days ago, My second jab will be 3 weeks later so it is hard for me to start a week of mtx in between so I decide to continue stopping mtx until a week after my 2nd jab.
I do agree this is very much depend on individual condition as our RA condition is so different.
I am on mtx & Inflectra. I had the Pfizer vaccinations and was concerned about exactly this. I asked my general practitioner to order an antibody test. It showed that I was protected. Maybe you can do the same? Though with the Delta variable, I'm newly concerned and staying home.
Its all a bit confusing as I was told to carry on with mtx as usual before and after my jabs as there's no reason or evidence to stop medication !!!I also felt rough for a few days after which my rheumy said likely showed that I probably had developed some immunity ????!!
Who knows ??
The only definite seems to be proceed with extreme caution lol !
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