Covid Injections and Booster jabs

Emma45

I have Scleroderma with lung disease and am on Mycophenolate

I have had 2 injections + booster jab on 2nd October,

I have now received a letter from Rheumatology Department saying I should have had 3 injections and a booster jab after 6 months.

What do I do

regards.

anneb82

Hi @Emma45

Welcome to the online community and thank you for sharing what you have with us.

You have Scleroderma with lung disease and are on Mycohenolate. You have had the 2 covid injections as well as the booster jab but have recieved a letter from the rheumatology department advising that you should have had 3 injections and a booster.

I can imagine it must be very confusing after already being told something different to then get information that has been changed.

In circumstances like this I would always recommend contacting the rheumatology department and your G.P surgery directly. The G.P surgery should have a copy of the letter you have been sent by the hospital department. By speaking directly to either of these areas will help to get to the bottom of what needs to happen for you and will then help to put your mind at rest. You may find that your G.P surgery tries to contact you in order to advise you on what needs to happen next.

I hope this is of some help and comfort to you. I know that everything covid related can feel overwhelming and scary but Im sure that their will be some plan to get you on the correct level of protection.

Please do keep us updated and join in with the other chats going on in the community. We are a friendly bunch and always looking to make new friends.

Best wishes

Anne (Moderator)

anneb82

Hi @Emma45

Just a side note to say that you may be interested in the below thread which goes in to some details about the 3rd injection that some people can have.

Hope this is of help to you.

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/55067/news-update-on-the-third-dose-of-the-vaccine

Best wishes

Anne (Moderator)

helpline_team

Hi @Emma45

Thank you for posting on the helpline forum. I understand how confused you must be feeling, and I hope you found the information Anne posted and the further clarification below helpful.

In September 2021, the JCVI announced that people who have severely suppressed immune systems at the time of their first and second doses of the vaccine would be eligible to receive a third dose. This is an additional ‘top-up’ dose to increase protection from COVID-19 for people who may not have had a good response from the first two doses. Rheumatology teams and GPs were asked to review their patient records and invite people with severely suppressed immune systems to get their third primary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

There was (and still is) some confusion around this in primary care and you are not alone in having received a booster dose, rather than a third primary vaccination. However, our understanding is that it is the same vaccination but that it is the intervals between doses that is different. Those eligible for a third primary dose are recommended to either receive a full dose of either mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) at least 8 weeks after their second jab. Those eligible for a booster dose are recommended to receive a full dose of either mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or a half dose of Moderna at least 6 months after their second jab. As long immunosuppressed patients get a full dose of either mRNA vaccine, that is in line with the protocol.

The important thing, now that your rheumatology team has confirmed that you fall into the group of patients who are eligible for the third primary dose, is that you ask your GP practice to amend your primary care records to ensure that you don’t miss out on receiving further doses that may be offered to this group of patients further down the line.

 You can find out more about this here:  

https://www.versusarthritis.org/covid-19-updates/vaccines-for-covid-19-your-questions-answered/

You are welcome to call us on our freephone helpline: 0800 5200 520 so you can talk things through with one of our helpline team. 

Best wishes

Mags

Helpline Team

jennand

Hello, I hope you don’t mind me hopping onto this thread rather than starting a new one, as my query is similar. I did all of the above & ended up at my GP where the Practice manager advised me that the 3rd dose and the booster are the same dosage and the GP recommends my actual booster to be given 6 months after my “3rd dose” ( which I thought WAS the booster as I received my hospital letter after this dose). However, my Covid record still shows this dose as the booster, not sure how I go about changing it. Also, in light of the change in schedule from 6 months to 3 months for boosters, will this also mean that our boosters will be 3 months after the “3rd” dose.

helpline_team

Hi @jennand

Thank you for posting on the forum.

I can see that Mags my helpline colleague gave you a link to our vaccine information, this has now been updated as of yesterday. Please do take a look at the updated information as this might be helpful to you, aside from that with regards to your Covid record I can only suggest speaking to your health care professional or you could try calling 119.   

https://www.versusarthritis.org/covid-19-updates/vaccines-for-covid-19-your-questions-answered/

I hope this is of some help.

Best wishes

Lynda

Helpline Team

helpline_team

Hi @jennand

I must apologise to you for saying that my colleague gave you the link to our vaccine information. The post that was replied to originally with this information was to @Emma45

However I hope the updated link is helpful to you

Best wishes

Lynda

Helpline team