Barts-MS rose-tinted-odometer: ★★★ (a red-eyed Tuesday #FF0000)
I was doing a Q&A webinar with some US clinicians last night and they were asking whether or not pwMS should have a booster COVID-19 vaccine or not. The answer is simple, YES. The study below in 60+-year-old Israelis shows that people who had a booster or third dose of the Pfizer-BionTech RNA vaccine were 11.3x less likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 compared to people who had been double vaccinated. The more impressive finding is that severe COVID-19 was reduced by a factor of 19.5 in the boosted group compared to the non-boosted group.
The question is whether or not this study’s findings are relevant to pwMS. Of course, they are. Older people have immunosenescence which is a form of immunosuppression and hence if you have MS and are on immunosuppressive therapy you need to boost your immunity. The principles are very similar.
In the UK pwMS on immunosuppressive therapies are being called up for a third dose. Please go ahead with the booster. People on anti-CD20 therapy should be aware that if they have no B-cells in their peripheral blood they are unlikely to make an antibody response, but the booster should theoretically improve their anti-SARS-CoV-2 T-cell responses. If they want to make an antibody response they can ask their team if they can delay their next infusion to allow some B-cell reconstitution before being vaccinated. The question is whether or not this is necessary is a moot point.
Hopefully, real-life data will emerge comparing COVID-19 outcomes in pwMS who are seropositive post-vaccine with those who are seronegative.
If you are on an S1P-modulator, such as fingolimod, you don’t really have the luxury of delaying dosing. Therefore I suggest going ahead with the booster in the hope that it works. Stopping fingolimod, and or other S1P modulators, for a vaccine is risky because of rebound disease activity.
Booster responses for all other DMTs should be fine.
Bar-On et al. Protection of BNT162b2 Vaccine Booster against Covid-19 in Israel. NEJM September 15, 2021 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2114255
BACKGROUND: On July 30, 2021, the administration of a third (booster) dose of the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine (Pfizer–BioNTech) was approved in Israel for persons who were 60 years of age or older and who had received a second dose of vaccine at least 5 months earlier. Data are needed regarding the effect of the booster dose on the rate of confirmed coronavirus 2019 disease (Covid-19) and the rate of severe illness.
METHODS: We extracted data for the period from July 30 through August 31, 2021, from the Israeli Ministry of Health database regarding 1,137,804 persons who were 60 years of age or older and had been fully vaccinated (i.e., had received two doses of BNT162b2) at least 5 months earlier. In the primary analysis, we compared the rate of confirmed Covid-19 and the rate of severe illness between those who had received a booster injection at least 12 days earlier (booster group) and those who had not received a booster injection (non-booster group). In a secondary analysis, we evaluated the rate of infection 4 to 6 days after the booster dose as compared with the rate at least 12 days after the booster. In all the analyses, we used Poisson regression after adjusting for possible confounding factors.
RESULTS: At least 12 days after the booster dose, the rate of confirmed infection was lower in the booster group than in the non-booster group by a factor of 11.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.4 to 12.3); the rate of severe illness was lower by a factor of 19.5 (95% CI, 12.9 to 29.5). In a secondary analysis, the rate of confirmed infection at least 12 days after vaccination was lower than the rate after 4 to 6 days by a factor of 5.4 (95% CI, 4.8 to 6.1).
CONCLUSIONS: In this study involving participants who were 60 years of age or older and had received two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine at least 5 months earlier, we found that the rates of confirmed Covid-19 and severe illness were substantially lower among those who received a booster (third) dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine.
MS-Selfie Newsletter / MS-Selfie Microsite
General Disclaimer: Please note that the opinions expressed here are those of Professor Giovannoni and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry nor Barts Health NHS Trust and are not meant to be interpreted as personal clinical advice.