Disease-modifying therapies and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in multiple sclerosis: an expert consensus

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) appeared in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has quickly become a global pandemic. The disease is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type-2 (SARS-CoV-2), an RNA beta coronavirus phylogenetically similar to SARS coronavirus. To date, more than 132 million cases of COVID19 have been recorded in the world, of which over 2.8 million were fatal (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). A huge vaccination campaign has started around the world since the end of 2020. The availability of vaccines has raised some concerns among neurologists regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) taking immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive therapies.

Automated summary

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and quickly spread globally, with over 132 million cases and 2.8 million deaths recorded to date. A massive vaccination campaign has been initiated worldwide since the end of 2020, although there are concerns among neurologists about the safety and efficacy of vaccination in multiple sclerosis patients on immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive therapies.