A large number of people living with immunocompromise in UK & world feel left out in the cold re COVID19. Recently I have spoken with people in this boat, & they have urgent questions. I don’t have the answers, but I said I’d try & highlight their key Qs here for awareness 🧵 1/
Q1. What do antibody levels after vaccination mean? Can I get anti-spike antibodies on NHS, or which private provider? Can we have a website showing key providers and what the cut off points are? Is any “positive” antibody result good, or is a low positive worrying? 2/
The problem is that we don’t yet know what the antibody results mean, whether antibodies are enough & whether low antibodies are compensated by T cells & other mechanisms. We are waiting to study people with vaccine breakthrough infections, and this is slow 3/
Q2 If my antibodies are low, can I get a booster vaccine? Or monoclonal antibodies? (My answers are more research needed - OCTAVE DUO etc will address, but this isn’t fast enough for people left in limbo) 4/
Q3 Am I suppose to shield or not? Will I be ordered back to work when I don’t know if the vaccine works in me or not? Do I have to live the next few years as if I’m on chemo? Can we have more guidance? 5/
Q4 We need more acknowledgement for people who don’t, or may not, respond to vaccines. Current dialogue is about access to vaccines or people declining, and media rarely mentions immunocompromised people 6/
Q5 Is there consideration for vaccinating child contacts of the immunocompromised? How much consideration of the risk-benefits of this approach is going on? #JCVI 7/
My answers are a variation of "it’s a new virus, new vaccine, we’re learning as fast as we can", but please remember the many active, wonderful people trying to live their lives through this pandemic with blood cancer, immunosuppressive drugs, kidney disease, transplants etc.
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