Oxford Jab and Psoriasis

I don't think anyone will be given the choice as to which one they get unless they are willing to pay private for it

I wonder if anyone with psoriasis was included in the large-scale trials they ran

Yes I was on the Oxford vaccine trial, I still don’t know if I had the real one or the placebos. I was told I was fine to take part in the trial as I only use topical treatments.

Thanks Jill. From this, one might conclude therefore that it is fine to take the jab as they would surely take the same approach whether it was a placebo or the real thing - that's interesting. I also use the topical treatments - though lots of them. I suppose ultimately it's about weighing up risk and taking the jab is always going to be better than not - whatever it does (or doesn't do) to psoriasis.

Thanks for raising this issue, Molly Malone. It’s an interesting point and not one I’d thought about. Good to hear your experience, Jill.

Hi, sorry I am coming to this discussion a bit late - I've just seen it! The T cells induced by the vaccine activate in a way that makes them completely specific to the virus, so it is still fine for you to take the vaccine with diseases such as psoriasis. The "T cell infiltrate" mentioned above in regard to psoriasis refers to T cells that specifically activated to something in the skin when your disease was first triggered, and these psoriasis-specific T cells travel to your skin to attack at these sites. The covid-specific T cells won't attack your psoriasis sites, just as your psoriasis-specific T cells won't attack covid. This is basically how they work: The vaccines cause some of your body cells to temporarily produce the "spike protein" of the virus. This spike protein is unique to the coronavirus, so your immune system senses there is something foreign which is a threat to you. T cells attach to this spike protein and activate to be able to recognise specifically just this protein and launch an attack. Eventually, these become "memory T cells". So if you catch the virus in the future, you already have T cells present that are trained to quickly recognise the virus, and will kill it before you get sick. These T cells cannot attack anything else other than the virus or virus-infected cells. Both the vaccines work in a similar way to achieve this T cell training. There is no evidence yet to suggest if one is better than the other for people with autoimmune diseases (as far as I can tell - I'll update this again if I see anything). If there ARE any exacerbating effects on psoriasis it will not come from a T cell attack and probably not even from the specifics of the covid vaccine, but from the general process of vaccination. So for example, if you usually get an exacerbation with the flu jab, that might be the case with the covid jab too, but there is no evidence this will be the case and is theoretically unlikely. Overall, you're probably in a lot worse shape if you catch the virus! Hope this helps! (I have a PhD in immunology and thought I should make myself useful)

Thank you GS for the useful post. I have a better understanding now of the role of T cells. I will, of course, be having the vaccine when it is offered, but your comments have put my mind at ease. Thank you very much.

Hi guys. Anyone on Stelara (biologic, shot every 12 weeks). I'm wondering if there would be an optimal ideal time to have the vaccine. I'm concerned that the covid vaccine will reduce the Sterlara effectiveness or visa versa if given at certain point after/before injection. I contacted Guys hospital and all they said was not same day but I am concerned they will not comment (can't) or there is no understanding. Thanks x

My dermatologist told me that biologicals will actually decrease your chance of ending up on a respirator. As with the flu, the thing that will harm you the most is your own immune system which goes in overdrive recognizing a new pathogen. Immunity depressors decrease your chance of overreacting, so they will lower your chance of life threatening symptoms. My GP was as confounded by this as I was, so take it for what's it worth :).