COVID-19 Vaccine information for Parents/Carers of Children and Adolescents aged 5yrs and over with a bleeding disorder, attending at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee(NIAC) have recommended that all those aged 5yrs and over should be included in the Covid-19 vaccination program and that they should be offered an mRNA vaccine. The names of the two available mRNA vaccines are Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty®) and COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna (Spikevax®). For patients with bleeding disorders one vaccine is not recommended over another. These vaccines can only be given via intra-muscular route.
A bleeding disorder is not known to cause an increased or decreased risk of COVID-19 infection and is neither an indication or a contraindication for vaccination.
Advice on administration of the COVID-19 vaccine by intra-muscular (IM) injection for people with bleeding disorders.
All patients with a known bleeding disorder are advised to:
- Apply pressure to the IM injection site for 10 minutes after the injection without rubbing the area
- Keep the injection site and limb under observation for signs of bleeding, bruising or an intramuscular bleed for 48 hours following vaccination
- Contact the Haemophilia/Bleeding Disorder Comprehensive Care Centre if concerned about bruising or bleeding following vaccination
In addition, patients are advised:
| Diagnosis | Advice |
| Mild/moderate bleeding disorder | No additional haemostatic cover required pre IM injection |
| Severe bleeding disorder established on maintenance dose Emicizumab (Hemlibra) prophylaxis | No additional haemostatic cover required pre IM injection |
| Severe bleeding disorder established on coagulation factor concentrate prophylaxis | Administer factor prophylaxis on the day of vaccination |
Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia (ITP) with platelet count <50 | Contact your treatment centre for advice prior to vaccination |
***This advice only applies to patients with bleeding disorders registered at the Children’s Coagulation Centre, Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin.
