It seems that we are not going to escape this pandemic anytime soon. Things get a bit more complicated than we’re used to. Officials now need to make a choice: should people with weakened immune systems receive an additional dose of Covid-19 to boost the response to the shots?
A group of independent advisers – Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices – for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging officials to come with an answer. CDC has a presentation about their latest research on how immunocompromised patients actually respond to the vaccines.
It is very clear that these patients are vulnerable, as, since they have compromised immune systems, the vaccines may not have the same strong effect against the virus after the vaccination.
About 2.7% of adults in the US are immune-compromised. Even if these persons, their loved ones and their families get vaccinated, it will still not be enough. They still don’t get the protection they need. They are still at risk.
Dr Todd Rice, from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, stated: “All of the patients that have been fully vaccinated that I’ve admitted to the ICU have been immunocompromised. Every single one of them.”
But is the extra shot of the Covid-19 vaccine helpful?
A recent study has shown that 44% of the hospitalized cases in the US of people who are fully vaccinated still get sick enough to come to the hospital. These people are all immunocompromised.
Even after all of the studies concerning the safety and effectiveness of the extra shot of the vaccine, we still don’t know if the low immunity levels in people immune-compromised can be fixed after an extra dose.
