Dr Mike Stephens COVID vaccine Q&A - your questions answered! - Kidney Wales
HomeNewsDr Mike Stephens COVID vaccine Q&A – your questions answered!

COVID vaccine
Q&A with Dr Mike Stephens
Consultant Transplant Surgeon, University Hospital of Wales

There is new information coming out daily relating to the COVID-19 vaccines. There has been a lot of uncertainty in the kidney community and understandably a lot of questions too. Kidney Wales Trustee and Consultant Transplant Surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales, Dr Mike Stephens, saw these concerns and wanted to help our community understand where we are in relation to a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Thursday 19 November 2020 Dr Mike Stephens hosted a question and answer (Q&A) session on the Kidney Wales Community Facebook Group to provide the latest information about the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and its suitability for people with kidney disease.  We invited you to submit questions advance.

14 patients and 93 viewers joined the live session.  Common questions included “I’ve received a transplant, will I be able to have the vaccine?” and “When will clinically extremely vulnerable people be vaccinated – where are we in the list of priorities?” There is a full report of the session available to review and read and a recording is now live on our YouTube channel.

Key messages

  • There are approximately 200 vaccines currently undergoing trials.  The Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford vaccines are indicating promising results but no vaccines have been approved for widespread use.
  • The vaccines will only be recommended for widespread use if scientists and your healthcare team are confident they are safe to use for you, as a kidney patient.
  • No one will be forced to have the vaccine.  It will always be your choice.
  • If a vaccine is effective, it will stop you from getting symptoms from the virus and passing it on to others.  However we do not yet know how long the vaccine will be effective for.
  • We expect the vaccine will be able to be used in all groups, including all renal patients, but this information hasn’t yet been confirmed.
  • More information may be required from the manufacturers about the timing of the dose for dialysis patients to ensure it is not ‘dialysed out’.
  • The vaccines have not been tested specifically on transplant recipients, so we can’t say for certain how effective they will be.   However the Oxford trial is giving positive indications that effectiveness does not diminish with age and (and therefore in people with weaker immune systems).
  • Governments are aiming to vaccinate a high percentage of the population to provide herd immunity, that will protect us all – even those who have no immunity to the virus.
  • We don’t know yet which groups will be vaccinated first, however people aged over 80, residents and staff of care homes and healthcare workers are expected to be the highest priority.  People who are classed as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ are expected to be a high priority.
  • The vaccine is an important tool but it’s only part of the picture.  Other important developments, such as rapid testing, would change the picture for e.g. travelling, going out for leisure etc; and NHS staff understand how to better treat the virus, resulting in fewer ICU admissions.
  • Until the vaccines are rolled out, we must avoid getting Coronavirus.  Hand washing and social distancing remain vital in preventing the spread of infection.
  • Wear a mask when you are out of the house and in any area where a social distance cannot be maintained.  Request your mask from Kidney Wales here!
  • Use the Renal Association risk assessment tools to assess your own risk of undertaking certain activities.
  • Stay safe this winter – we are working towards a much better position from spring onwards.

Links to further information:

• BBC Sounds podcast – How to vaccinate the world: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000py6r
• Coronavirus guidance for people with kidney disease, produced by Kidney Care UK.
• Welsh Government guidance on protecting people defined on medical groups as extremely
vulnerable from  coronavirus (COVID-19) – previously known as ‘shielding’
• Welsh Government FAQs for people who are extremely vulnerable from coronavirus (COVID-19)

We hope you can join us for our next virtual session, which will be held in collaboration by Kidney Wales, Kidney Care UK and Paul Popham Fund, at 6-7.30pm on 25 November on the theme of ‘Keeping Well over Winter’.  Register here: https://www.kidneywales.cymru/news/2020/11/04/join-us-next-patient-conference-keeping-well-winter/