Vaccinations are very important for health and have been proven to help prevent many different diseases which may in some cases cause severe illness, disability or even death. There is some information about the safety and effectiveness of many vaccines for people with MS, however information about many issues is incomplete. Concerns relate to whether vaccinations can trigger MS exacerbations, whether vaccines are effective when patients are taking certain immune medicines or steroids and whether vaccinations are safe for people with medicines that decrease immune function.
Our physicians currently recommend that, when possible, people with MS should not receive live attenuated vaccines.
Vaccines that are safe to receive:
- Injectable flu vaccines (NOT FLU MIST); Hemaenophilus influenza type B vaccine
- To learn more about the 2021-2022 seasonal flu vaccine, please visit the CDC website.
- Tetanus vaccine (also known as tetanus toxid)
- Hepatitis A and B vaccines
- INACTIVE polio vaccine
- Pneumococcal vaccine ((Pneumovax® 23 - PPSV23) and Prevnar® 13-PCV13)
- Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil®)
- Shingles vaccine (Shingrix®)
- COVID vaccines (Moderna, or Pfizer or J&J (Jansen)
Further information on these vaccines can be found on the National MS Society Website.