One of our Network members asked about what considerations are being given to how the COVID vaccine will interact with medications that people are on. I sent this question to a contact at the WA Department of Health (DOH) and it was forwarded to the DOH Vaccine Team. I received the following response this morning and wanted to pass it along:
We don’t have all of the answers yet, but both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine phase 3 trial enrolled individuals with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic health problems which frequently include medications as part of their treatment. They specifically enrolled a diverse group of participants to have it be more representative of the U.S. population and also those impacted by the COVID virus.
Lastly questions like medications and when vaccines should not be combined are usually part of the vaccine recommendations that come from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a national group of medical and clinical experts. They are meeting on Friday and over the weekend to give additional guidance on questions like this as well after they finish reviewing the clinical trials. So more information is coming to answer your question.
Please feel free to email the nurse immunization mail group at ImmuneNurses@DOH.WA.GOV for specific clinical questions.
To streamline the communication process don’t hesitate to reach out to the email mentioned above about COVID questions. In addition, COVID.Vaccine@doh.wa.gov is a great resource for general COVID questions.