State-level wins that ensure immunosuppressed patients can access COVID-19 vaccination show the power of coordinated efforts by volunteer leaders, staff and members to translate the ACR’s work into actionable public policy recommendations, then amplify those messages through member engagement.
Coronavirus Vaccination Assistance
Each state has different requirements for residents to obtain a coronavirus vaccination, with some allowing preregistration and others coordinating vaccinations via employers or the local health department. Below, we list some online resources created to help people determine whether they qualify for coronavirus vaccination and where they should go to schedule an appointment, broken down…
CDC Says Fully Vaccinated People Can Gather Unmasked with Others Indoors
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Individuals fully inoculated against COVID-19 can meet in small groups with other vaccinated people without wearing masks, but should keep wearing them outside the home, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on March 8. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said during a briefing that the agency’s new guidance…
Expert Says Vaccines Are Largely Safe for Rheumatology Patients
CHICAGO—Rheumatologists often come to Brian Schwartz, MD, associate professor of medicine and vice chief for clinical affairs in the Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, with a concern: A patient on immunosuppression has a family member who needs a live vaccine, but the patient may be vulnerable to the vaccine’s effects. Should…
Vaccines & Rheumatology Patients
Vaccines are often safe for rheumatology patients, but precautions may be needed, said Brian Schwartz, MD, at the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium…
What Pharmacists Want Rheumatologists to Know
Involving pharmacists in the management of chronic diseases benefits patients, says Wendy Ramey, BSPharm, RPh, CSP, a clinical pharmacy specialist in rheumatology at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She knows this personally. As someone with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Ms. Ramey knows pharmacists can play an important role in patient education and encouraging adherence to medications….
The Latest on Vaccinations, Leprosy & Lyme Disease
CHICAGO—Keith Winthrop, MD, MPH, professor of public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Portland, Ore., began the vaccination session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting with a review of vaccination timing and targets. He presented a clinically relevant snapshot of the vaccines rheumatologists should consider and emphasized…
GlaxoSmithKline’s Shingles Vaccine Gets Approval in Canada
(Reuters)—Canadian health regulators have approved GlaxoSmithKline’s shingles vaccine, the company said on Friday.1 Shingrix, the British pharma company’s shingles vaccine for people aged 50 years or older, was unanimously recommended for approval by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel last week. Older people are most at risk of an outbreak of shingles,…
Shingles Vaccination Not at Goal Levels for U.S. Seniors
(Reuters Health)—Just one in five people over age 60 in the U.S. have been vaccinated against a painful eruption of herpes zoster (shingles), despite recommendations that all of them should get the shot. It’s estimated that among people over age 50, one in three will eventually develop shingles. After age 80, half of adults have…
Ethics Forum: Pediatric Vaccination Refusals Raise Challenges for Physicians
The boy who could not walk: S.L. is a previously healthy 10-year-old boy who has not walked for three months. Physical examination reveals swollen wrists, knees, ankles and several toes. There is reduced hip range of motion and flexion contractures of both knees. He can stand with assistance, but is unable to take a single…