Expert opinion on COVID-19 vaccines and cladribine tablets in MS: A plain language summary

Peter Rieckmann, Diego Centonze, Gavin Giovannoni, Le H Hua, Celia Oreja-Guevara, Daniel Selchen, Per Soelberg Sørensen, Patrick Vermersch, Heinz Wiendl, Hashem Salloukh, Bassem Yamout*

*Corresponding author for this work

Abstract

WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT?: People with multiple sclerosis (shortened to MS) who are taking cladribine tablets may have concerns about whether they can be vaccinated against COVID-19. This summary details the findings from a previously published article, in which an international committee of 10 MS experts developed recommendations to answer some important questions about COVID-19 vaccines in people with MS (including relapsingremitting or active secondary progressive disease) taking cladribine tablets.

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?: The committee identified 13 recommendations, which were all agreed upon by at least three-quarters (75%) of the 38 voting MS experts. Generally, they recommended that people with MS taking cladribine tablets should be vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible, because the vaccine is thought to be both safe and effective, and vaccine responses were not likely to be affected by cladribine tablets.

WHAT DO THE RESULTS MEAN?: Overall, people with MS taking cladribine tablets should receive the COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves, unless advised differently by their healthcare provider.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNeurodegenerative disease management
Volume13
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)5-13
Number of pages9
ISSN1758-2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2023

Keywords

  • cladribine tablets
  • clinical research
  • COVID-19
  • lay summary
  • multiple sclerosis
  • plain language summary
  • vaccination

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