NPF recommends COVID-19 mRNA vaccine booster dose for those with psoriatic disease

The National Psoriasis Foundation COVID-19 Task Force is recommending booster doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for some patients with psoriatic disease.

Individuals treated with immunosuppressive or immune-modulating drugs for their psoriatic disease and who have received both doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccines should receive a third dose of the same vaccine at least 28 days after their two-dose regimen is completed, according to a press release.

“The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. We urge those not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Those already vaccinated have a dramatically reduced risk of developing severe COVID-19 and now have additional options for a booster vaccine that may add additional protection from this disabling and deadly virus,” Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and co-chair of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) COVID-19 Task Force, said in the release.

These recommendations follow guidance from the CDC’s updated COVID-19 vaccine information for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The NPF specifically recommends booster doses of mRNA vaccines for those who are aged 50 years or older; those with comorbidities such as smoking, being overweight or having diabetes or cardiovascular disease; and those taking abatacept, cyclosporine, leflunomide, glucocorticoids, methotrexate or tofacitinib.

For those taking methotrexate, the NPF recommends stopping the medication for 2 weeks after a mRNA vaccine booster dose to improve vaccine response.

The NPF has not updated guidance regarding boosters for patients who have received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.