Vaccine Preparedness

The Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the world, and while we're going through another dark surge, there is hope- vaccines. The FDA just authorized and approved the first Covid-19 vaccine. While this is exciting, it also brings up a lot of questions, especially for people in the NMO community. In this episode, host Chelsey, PhD immunologist, chats with Sumaira on the basics of vaccines, and then talks with neuroimmunologist and NMO clinician Mary Rensel, MD of the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center. Sumaira and Chelsey cover the basics on vaccines: What are vaccines? What's protective immunity? What's herd immunity? What're the types of vaccines? What's the Covid vaccine timeline of distribution look like?

Dr. Rensel offers her clinical insight to discuss general vaccine considerations and recommendations for the NMO community, including: What are vaccine recommendations for NMO patients? Do NMO treatments affect vaccine response? Or safety concerns? Is there an effect of vaccines on NMO relapse?

Please remember that the goal of this podcast is to educate and empower you to make the most informed decisions with your health care provider. This is not medical advice- please follow up with your health care team.

*Chelsey is a medical science liaison with Sanofi-Genzyme, and her role in the CBJF is independent of Sanofi-Genzyme, and views/content shared do not reflect Sanofi-Genzyme.