The trials of vaccines against COVID-19 have been carried out at such speed that it has not been possible to delve into the effects they can have on certain sectors of society. For example, people with chronic diseases were excluded from these studies. Among them are multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, so no specific information on the level of safety and efficacy in people who suffer from this pathology.
However, it is recommended that MS patients be vaccinated, since, as explained by Multiple Sclerosis Spain (EME), “there is no no hint suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines must have a negative effect on the evolution of MS or should interfere with the efficacy and safety of disease-modifying therapies (DMT, for its acronym in English) ”. “In addition, none of the COVID-19 vaccines currently marketed contain ‘live attenuated’ viruses, so they do not carry a risk of infection for people who receive any type of DMT,” they add.
Instead, the organization recognizes that “Some DMT cause the protective response of the immune system generated by vaccines to be less intense”, so the effectiveness could decrease. Although, the immunity that would be generated in people who have recently received some treatment of this type would continue to be enough to protect them against COVID-19Therefore, it is recommended not to modify the therapy to administer the vaccine. “A lower efficacy of the vaccine is better than none,” says EME.