medwireNews: The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has updated its guidance on COVID-19 vaccination for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), including the recommendation for a booster dose following an initial three-dose series in immunocompromised patients.
The guidance states that patients who are likely to have had an inadequate response to two vaccine doses as a result of immunosuppressant therapy should be given a third messenger (m)RNA vaccine dose at least 28 days after the second dose, followed by an additional booster (fourth) dose at least 5 months later, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ACR notes that this guidance applies irrespective of whether or not RMD patients have experienced natural infection with SARS-CoV-2.
“It remains important for rheumatology providers to assess the vaccination status of all patients with rheumatic diseases,” said Jeffrey Curtis, chair of the ACR COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance Task Force, in a press release. He stressed that providers should “ask patients not only whether they have been vaccinated, but with what, how many times, and how recently.”
The updated recommendations also endorse the use of monoclonal antibody therapy as pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, or as treatment for newly symptomatic individuals with COVID-19, for high-risk RMD patients if licensed and available.
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