The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Tag: covid-19 vaccine

It’s vaccine time for me, times three

Three vaccines in syringes

My wife and I got the latest COVID-19 vaccine the other day, the first of three vaccines we’ll be getting this fall. The others are the seasonal flu vaccine and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. This was my sixth COVID-19 vaccination, and I’ve received a flu shot every year for decades. They’ve never been a problem for my multiple sclerosis. The RSV vaccine has only recently been approved by…Continue Reading

What’s New About COVID-19 Vaccines and MS?

covid-19 injection

A little over a year ago, I wrote about whether people with multiple sclerosis (MS) should get a COVID-19 vaccine. I was anxious to be vaccinated as soon as I could, but I was also concerned about how the vaccines would affect someone with MS. Would the side effects be worse for MS patients than for healthy people? Would the disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) used to treat MS affect the ability…Continue Reading

Time to Make a Date for the Flue Vaccine

flu vaccine

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I rolled up our sleeves and got our shots again. No, not the COVID-19 vaccine. We’ve already had two of those shots, and expect to receive a third before Thanksgiving. Our latest shot was the seasonal flu vaccine, which we’ve gotten every year for as long as I can remember. With all of the attention on COVID-19 vaccines, you may have forgotten about…Continue Reading

I Had a COVID-19 Antibody Test. What Does it Show?

COVID-19 antibody test

Is 2,500 my magical COVID-19 number? At my annual MS checkup a week ago, my neurologist included a SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. Antibodies are proteins in the blood that protect the body from being attacked by viruses, bacteria, and the like. In this case, the blood test was searching for antibodies that would protect me against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19. With two shots of the Moderna vaccine…Continue Reading

MS Treatments React Differently to a COVID-19 vaccine

covid-19 vaccine

Are you being treated with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) and wondering how it might impact the efficacy of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine? If so, a recent study may provide some clarity. The study, published in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, looked at 125 MS patients either being treated with Mavenclad (cladribine), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), or Gilenya (fingolimod), or no DMT. A control group of healthy people also was included. Study participants…Continue Reading

COVID Shot #2 and Going Strong

COVID shot #2

It’s been nearly two weeks since my wife and I were back in Bowie, Maryland, for our second shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. It was a sunny and warm afternoon after a windy, cold, and wet month. We hoped that was a good omen. Nina, the same pharmacist who gave us our first shots exactly four weeks earlier, was there again, and our jabs went smoothly. Laura and I…Continue Reading

We Got Our COVID-19 Shot Number 1

COVID-19 shot number 1

It’s a good thing my wife, Laura, is persistent. Thanks to her tenacity, we’ve both been able to get our first shots of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. According to the pharmacist who gave us our shot #1, in two weeks we should be about 60% protected from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. After our second shot, given 28 days after the first, clinical trials report the efficacy jumps to…Continue Reading

Wondering About the COVID-19 Vaccine and MS

covid-19 vaccine

Do you plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine? I do. People in the U.K. started receiving the vaccine last week and the first doses are on their way to people in the U.S. So far, the U.S.-based National Multiple Sclerosis Society has said only that people with MS should seriously consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s brought together a group of experts to make some detailed recommendations, but the group’s…Continue Reading