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NEW YORK—Alcon has joined with the American Optometric Association (AOA), American Academy of Optometry (AAO) and the Contact Lens Institute (CLI) in supporting the recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states there is currently no evidence to suggest contact lens wearers are more at risk for acquiring COVID-19 than eyeglass wearers. A letter and email communication yesterday to ECPs from Alcon Vision's Richard Weisbarth, OD, FAAO, FNAP, vice president, professional affairs, U.S. Vision Care, said, "There has been considerable misinformation about the safety of contact lens wear during COVID-19 and we want you to know where Alcon stands on this issue."

The letter pointed out that contact lens wearers should continue to practice safe contact lens wear and care hygiene habits to help prevent transmission of any contact lens-related infections, such as always washing hands with soap and water before handling lenses.People who are healthy can continue to wear and care for their contact lenses as prescribed by their eyecare professional. In addition, it is important to remind all individuals, whether they wear contact lenses, glasses, need no vision correction at all, have dry eye or suffer from ocular allergies, to clean their hands often and avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with unwashed hands."

The letter pointed out that Alcon is working to share this guidance through collaborative effort with industry partners to push out evidence-based, consumer-facing media communications featuring tips for safe contact lens wear and care in light of COVID-19. VMAIL reported earlier this week on those communications and peer-reviewed paper to communicate to patients.

Alcon also said that social media posts found on the Alcon LiinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages can be shared by ECPs on their own channels. Other social media and resources will be coming soon to a special COVID-19 section of AlconVisionBrandLibrary.com. Additional emails with helpful lens wearing tips are being sent through TheEyeSolution.com to Alcon's database of lens wearers.