The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact around the world, and people everywhere has been affected by the virus either directly or indirectly—including people with bleeding disorders and those who care for them. Fortunately, the first COVID-19 vaccines have been approved, and around the world, people are starting to be vaccinated. There is an understandable concern in our community, however, about how COVID-19 vaccines may affect people with a bleeding disorder. These concerns have been addressed in Vaccination against COVID-19: Rationale, modalities and precautions for patients with haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders, a manuscript published in Haemophilia, the official journal of the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH). The document was penned by a number of experts in the field, on behalf of the WFH, the European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD), the European Haemophilia Consortium (EHC), and the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF).
The manuscript explains that COVID-19 vaccines should be considered safe, as they have been tested in tens of thousands of people in worldwide clinical trials without serious adverse reactions. It also goes on to show that hemophilia patients are not at greater risk of developing complications related to the vaccine, although certain precautions and additional information should be taken into consideration by patients. The video above—narrated by Radoslaw F. Kaczmarek, WFH Coagulation Product Safety, Supply, and Access (CPSSA) Committee chair (Poland/USA)—offers a summary of the content in the article. To read the full article, please click here.