As distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines sputters along, this question will be asked: Should people who are immunocompromised get vaccinated?
As distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines sputters along, this question will be asked: Should people who are immunocompromised get vaccinated?
Mostly, the answer is yes, according to the FDA and CDC. They both weighed in when the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines received emergency use authorizations (EUAs) from the FDA in December. Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and now the chief medical adviser in the Biden administration, offered this caveat while speaking to a group of hematologists just before the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine: Taking immunosuppressants might mean a less robust response from the vaccine, but “some degree of immunity is better than no degree of immunity. So, for me, it would be recommended that these people do get vaccinated.”
The American College of Rheumatology echoed Fauci’s endorsement, saying that for those taking drugs such as prednisone, “even partial protection will be of benefit both to patients and the general public.”
The American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) went further, saying that not only should patients with active cancer get vaccinated, but they also should be among the first in line. The American Society of Clinical Oncology has taken a similar position.
As the AACR noted, neither of the vaccines with EUAs nor the ones in phase 3 trials use live virus, which could, theoretically, overwhelm a compromised immune system and result in infection.
Here is the full text of the CDC's advice on vaccination of people whose immune systems are compromised as of this morning:
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