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January 15, 2021
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National Psoriasis Foundation recommends COVID-19 vaccine in pandemic guidelines

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The National Psoriasis Foundation’s COVID-19 task force has updated its guidelines for managing psoriatic disease during the pandemic.

The guidelines, published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, were developed by a task force of 18 dermatology, rheumatology, epidemiology, infectious diseases and critical care physicians.

The National Psoriasis Foundation’s COVID-19 task force has updated its guidelines for managing psoriatic disease during the pandemic.

The task force first issued 22 guidelines in September 2020 and reaffirmed those points, while adding five new recommendations, leading with a strong suggestion that anyone who has access to a vaccine should receive one.

Joel M. Gelfand

“We have put out 27 recommendations related to how psoriasis and its treatments impact COVID-19 risk, how medical care can be optimized during the pandemic, what patients should do to lower their risk of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 (including novel vaccination) and what they should do if they develop COVID-19,” Healio Psoriatic Disease Chief Medical Editor Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and co-chair of the NPF COVID-19 task force, told Healio. “Most critically, we recommend that patients with psoriatic disease, should receive an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them and that patients who are to receive a mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine continue their biologic or oral therapies for psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis during the vaccine period.”

Patients on biologic or oral therapies are recommended to continue their psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis treatments, even if they are to receive the vaccine. Those who have contracted SARS-CoV-2 should also adhere to evidence-based COVID-19 therapies, not including the use of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, which are not recommended for COVID-19 treatment outside of a clinical trial setting.

Shared decision-making between patients and providers should occur on a case-by-case basis for resumption of psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis treatment for patients who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2.

“The science of COVID-19 is rapidly developing. As co-chair of the NPF COVID-19 task force, I am committed to putting out up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations designed to promote optimal management of psoriatic disease during the pandemic,” Gelfand said. “Based on evidence to date, it does not appear that psoriasis treatments meaningfully impact the risk of COVID-19. We do not know if psoriasis treatments will meaningfully alter the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, but based on prior vaccine research, we do not think psoriasis treatments will meaningfully impact vaccine efficacy.”