COVID Vaccines in the Immunocompromised

In this video series, Cassandra Calabrese, DO, assistant professor of medicine in the department of rheumatic and immunologic disease, and the department of infectious disease at Cleveland Clinic, discussed:

• recommending the COVID-19 vaccine and the appropriate boosters to all patients;
• understanding “the source of patient’s desire to not be vaccinated;”
• dealing with misinformation and other concerns immunocompromised patients have that surround COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and then sharing the correct information;
• why hearing recommendations from their own health care professionals “carries a lot of weight” for patients, especially rheumatology patients;
• changing views over time as “more real-world data, experience and research” come out on how COVID-19 vaccination can prevent hospitalization and death;
• the challenges of addressing vaccine maintenance;
• the “multifactorial” impact of immunosuppressant medications on the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness: “Patients must be cautioned if they’re on one of the medicines that we know will significantly dampen the response;” and
• the importance of “effective outpatient treatments,” like oral antivirals and monoclonal antibody treatment.