Are Multiple COVID-19 Vaccines More Effective on Cancer Patients?
Cancer patients are a high-risk group—their chances of contracting illnesses such as COVID-19 increase because of a weakened immune system. COVID-19 vaccines and boosters build protection and resistance to COVID-19 and its variants. Because of the heightened risk of getting COVID-19, medical and public health officials recommend that cancer patients receive COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
What Should I Know About COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters?
Researchers, public health, and medical professionals advise people to receive COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) keeps their COVID-19 information up-to-date if you want to learn more about vaccines, symptoms, treatments, or testing.
Why Should I Get COVID-19 Vaccination and Boosters?
People with a spinal cord injury (SCI) have an increased risk of getting COVID-19 because of a weakened immune system. A weakened immune system decreases your body’s ability to ward off illnesses, leaving it vulnerable to severe diseases such as cancer. People with SCI are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with bladder or spinal cancer.
When COVID-19 vaccines became available to the public most oncologists or cancer centers recommended their patients get the vaccines. The recommendation was made because the vaccines and boosters successfully protected and built resistance against COVID-19. Cancer patients benefitted from the vaccines and boosters because they decreased their risk of COVID-19 infection. Or if they did contract COVID-19, the side effects were less severe.
Did Someone Study the Efficacy of Multiple Doses in Cancer Patients?
A study tracked 73,608 cancer patients during COVID-19’s Delta and Omicron waves. The researchers looked at the link between COVID-19 outcomes and mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna) vaccine doses between those with active (undergoing treatment) cancer patients, survivors, and a control (no cancer) group.
The participants were grouped according to their vaccination status – no vaccine, two, three, or four doses. The incident rate ratios (IRR) were compared with the general population. The IRRs of each group compared COVID-19 infection, hospitalizations, and severe disease (including death).
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How Do 3 or 4 Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters Help Cancer Patients?
Researchers from the abovementioned study came to several conclusions about the efficacy of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. They found that high vaccination rates can explain the low COVID-19 mortality rate in cancer patients compared to predominant fatality rates.
The study found that during the delta and omicron waves, the IRRs for COVID-19 weren’t substantially different between cancer and non-cancer patients who received 0-4 doses. However, IRRs for COVID-19 hospitalizations and severe side effects were markedly lower for those who had three or four doses of an mRNA vaccine than those who received two doses.
The results of the study show that early vaccination and booster shots in cancer patients effectively protect against the severe side effects of COVID-19.
Should I Receive COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters?
The decision to receive COVID-19 vaccines and boosters is a personal decision. You can talk with your doctor about the various vaccines available and find out how vaccines and boosters can affect your body.
Christina Sisti, DPS, MPH, MS, is a bioethicist and health care policy advocate. She works to create awareness and improve healthcare policy for those with long-term health issues.