In this interview Dr Patrick Harrington, Consultant Haematologist, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, talks to Nona about Covid vaccines for MPN patients, he starts off by describing the research he carried out at the start of the Covid pandemic, with Covid being a new condition it was an area that needed a lot of research, particularly in relation to MPN patients. This research was one of the first reports to be published internationally. He describes the findings that were able to demonstrate that MPN patients were able to have a fairly robust T-Cell response at over 6 months post-Covid infection, and in some cases it was one of the first descriptions of T-Cell immunity in patients who were considered to be immunosuppressed and the further research which was looking at the response to vaccinations in MPN patients, the findings being encouraging with 80 – 90% of patients showing an antibody and T-Cell response after a single dose of vaccine, and after 3 doses, very positive results in response to the vaccination. They then go on to talk about MPN patients being immunosuppressed and who are more at risk and the findings of large studies looking at incidence of infection across MPN patients compared to the rates of infection observed in the general population.
They then talk about Covid boosters and the news about the new Covid variant called Pirola, and that the key to vaccines is preventing severe infection and prevents patients becoming significantly unwell and that patients who are over 65 and those who are considered clinically vulnerable or family members of those who are clinically vulnerable are eligible for the vaccine and are encouraged to get vaccinated. (more information about the Autumn 2023 Covid booster campaign can be found here)
Click here to view the vlogcast.
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We would like to thank Dr Harrington for taking part in this conversation with Nona.
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