COVID-19
And Psoriasis
As the COVID-19 situation in Canada continues to evolve, we remind our community to be attentive to reputable sources of health information such as the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as your provincial/territorial government for current recommendations and precautions.
We also encourage psoriasis / psoriatic arthritis patients to call their dermatologist/rheumatologist or other physicians with any concerns, or for information about their specific circumstances. Your health care team is the most appropriate resource for any specific questions or concerns you may have.
To date, general information is that unless symptomatic, medications should be continued. We encourage psoriatic patients who develop symptoms or who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to discuss their concerns and treatment plans with their prescribing physician.
We further remind members of our community with exacerbated anxiety and depression symptoms of how to manage their mental wellness at this time of uncertainty. Check out the Canadian Mental Health Association for their suggestions if you are feeling elevated distress.
For general information for skin patients, the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance, of which CPN is an affiliate, has created an FAQ page: http://canadianskin.ca/education/covid-19.
As many people are seeing their jobs affected these days, there may be concerns about disrupted access to insurance for treatments. Check out this Understanding Access Fact Sheet as a reminder of ways people may access treatments for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in Canada.
Information about COVID-19 vaccines
Current information about vaccines to date from Canada:
- Public Health Agency of Canada
- Canadian Dermatology Association has released its position on SC2 / SRAS-2 / SRAS-CoV-2 (SC2) vaccination of patients on systemic therapies
- Canadian Rheumatology Association
- Vaccine booster eligibility by province and territory (October 17, 2021 CTV News article)
Other resources regarding vaccines that have been released by international psoriasis experts:
Other Resources
Canadian Dermatology Association
World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Mental Health Resources
COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellness resources
https://covid19oncologyresources.ca/mental-health-and-wellness/
Government of Canada Wellness Together
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)
CPN is pleased to be partnering with other patient and healthcare provider organizations around the world on PsoProtect, an international registry for health care providers to report outcomes of COVID-19 in individuals with psoriasis and PsoProtectMe, a self-report survey of psoriasis patients globally to understand how the pandemic is affecting people with psoriasis. For more information, visit our PsoProtect page.
