SUMMARY:

In this episode, I welcome board certified neurologist, Dr. Marwa Kaisey, to the podcast where we discuss the most up-to-date information on COVID vaccines and COVID boosters. In particular, we discuss how all of that information relates to people living with MS.

Dr. Kaisey, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles focuses her practice on caring for people with MS and other neuroimmune conditions. She teaches Cedars-Sinai neurology residents in both inpatient and outpatient settings and assists with the MS fellowship. She's won multiple teaching awards including the AB Baker teacher recognition award from the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. Kaisey is active in research and has several publications on the diagnosis and misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Her work includes developing novel tools to more quickly and accurately diagnose MS.

She can be found on Instagram @themsmd and YouTube where she provides, in a quick and concise way, all the latest in MS research as well as tips for living well with MS. Links to both of those can be found in the Episode Notes.

In this episode, Dr. Kaisey and I cover not only the most commonly asked questions regarding COVID and MS, but also the questions that we might be curious about but aren't often discussed.

EPISODE NOTES:

- Is MS alone considered an underlying condition?

- Which MS treatments put you at higher risk?

- What about the timing of a vaccine and your infusion?

- Which MS drug puts you at 4x higher risk of being hospitalized from Covid?

- Tysabri and the blood brain barrier.

- The sweet spot for timing your vaccine and your infusion for best vaccine efficacy.

- Vaccine response and antibody testing.

- Will the vaccine evolve as new variants emerge?

- How the vaccine was designed.

- What to do if you want to get a Covid vaccine and a flu vaccine and when? Can you get them at the same time?

- Typical side effects of first and second doses of the COVID vaccine.

- Dr. Kaisey's Conquer MS project. Link below.

- Should an MS patient get a vaccine booster?

- A third dose or a booster? Which one? Is there a difference? Are you eligible?

- How long does your natural immunity last if you've had COVID?

- Mixing brands of vaccines. Is it safe?

- How were they able to bring the COVID vaccine to market so quickly? Did they cut corners? Were safety measures sidestepped?

- How long until we'll have some sense of normalcy?

- Masks. Are they still important?

LINKS:

Where to find Dr. Marwa Kaisey:

Instagram - @themsmd

YouTube - https://youtube.com/c/drmarwakaisey

The MS Gym

Instagram - @themsgym

Website - www.themsgym.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheMSGym/?ref=share

Brooke Slick

Instagram - @brooke.slick

Website - www.brookeslick.com