Thread by @keithmcarthur

Our pandemic isn’t over. A thread about families who have been double-vaxxed but see no end light at the end of the tunnel. Families like mine. (1/28)

Yesterday I sat on my front porch and watched kids across the street running a lemonade stand. They were laughing and having so much fun. Despite their masks, it was one of the most “normal” things I’ve seen in months. (2/28)

Life in Canada is getting back to normal. At of midnight tonight in Ontario, restaurants, bars and movie theatres can open their doors. Large-ish social gatherings are allowed outside again, as well as smaller indoor gatherings. (3/28)

But our family isn’t close to getting back to normal. Because even though we’re all fully vaccinated, we're not protected. (4/28)

Some background. Five years ago, my doctors told me that my kidneys were about to fail. If I didn’t get dialysis or a transplant soon I would die. My sister Stephanie donated one of her kidneys to me and saved my life. (5/28)

My transplant was a medical miracle. But in order to prevent my body from rejecting the kidney, I’m on drugs that lower my immune system. This puts me at higher-risk of getting seriously ill or even dying from #COVID19. (6/28)

I’m not exaggerating when I raise the possibility of dying. One study found that 20% of transplant patients who contracted COVID-19 died – much higher than the general population ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… (7/28)

Health officials in Ontario have recognized this extra risk and allowed people on immunosuppressants to get both doses early. (8/28)

Getting my two Pfizer vaccine doses were two of the best days of my life. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Not just for me, but but for my wife and kids who’ve been in extreme lockdown for 26 months. (9/28)

But I knew there was a chance that the immunosuppressants I take to stay alive – the ones that make me high-risk for COVID – could also lower the efficacy of the vaccine. (10/28)

So about a month after my second shot, I got a special test that measured how much antibody I’d developed for COVID-19. I expected some reduced efficacy, but I was shocked when I got the test results back. (11/28)

Despite getting two shots of the Pfizer vaccine, my body had developed ZERO antibodies for COVID-19. None. Studies show this is typical for about half of post-transplant patients. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… (12/28)

My kidney doctors say there’s a chance the vaccine helped me in a way that can’t be measured. But they can’t know for sure. Their advice to me is to keep living as if I’m at unvaccinated and high-risk of a medically dangerous case of COVID-19 (13/28)

I should pause here for a minute and acknowledge that this is absolutely a problem of privilege. Because I live in Canada, I was able to get a life-saving transplant at no charge. And I live in a country where everybody who wants to be vaccinated has had the opportunity. (14/28)

But I’m still worried. Not about myself. I can keep living the pandemic lifestyle for as long as I need to. No, I’m worried for my wife @williamslaura and my kids who feel like they also need to keep living this way along with me. (15/28)

This is Connor. He’s just graduated from high school after spending more than a year in online classes. He’s lived in a bubble for a year and a half and hasn’t complained at all. Now I’m worried that as long as he lives at home he'll be in lockdown. (16/28)

This is Bryson. He has severe physical and cognitive disabilities because of a genetic condition known as GRIN Disorder (GRIN1). Bryson loves school and was so excited to start his first year of high school. But he stayed home all year to keep me safe. (17/28)

For Bryson, the implications of missing school are pretty severe because he’s missing out on things like physical and speech therapy. (18/28)

This is my wife Laura and her mom. They’ve seen each other at social distanced outdoor visits. But Laura hasn’t hugged her parents since March of 2020. (19/28)

Laura, Connor and Bryson are all fully vaccinated, but they feel like they, too, have to keep acting as if they haven’t been. For me. Because nobody can tell us what kind of danger they might pose to me if they get exposed to someone with COVID-19. (20/28)

There have been some studies that have shown that a third dose can help produce antibodies in transplant patients who didn’t respond to the first two. acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L2… and
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10… (21/28)

Some countries, including Israel and France, are already rolling out third doses for immunosuppressed people. And there’s news today that CDC is considering this in the US. washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07… (22/28)

But as far as I can tell, Canada wants to study the issue more before rolling out third doses. thestar.com/life/health_we… (23/28)

Like I said, I’m okay to keep living like it’s 2020. But my wish is for my family to be able to go along with the rest of you as you settle back into whatever normal is now. I really want Bryson to be able to go to high school in September!! (24/28)

So I guess I’m looking for help. First, if you’re an expert in the latest COVID-19 research, does it offer any insight into the likelihood that my fully vaccinated family could get infected to the point that they'd shed enough virus to cause me serious illness? (25/28)

Second, if you have influence on this, can you please help me put pressure on Heath Canada and provincial health ministries to roll out third doses for people like me? Or the governments in your country? (26/28)

Third, if you have neither expertise nor influence, you can make our family safer sooner by GETTING VACCINATED! You can also help get me by retweeting this thread. (27/28)

Thanks for reading! I'll conclude with some people I want to CC on this thread: @BogochIsaac @nightshiftmd @picardonhealth @DFisman @jkwan_md @AntibioticDoc @MoriartyLab @DeNovo_Fatima @KrishanaSankar #medtwitter #covid19 #epidemiology (28/28)

I am overwhelmed at the love, knowledge and assistance coming back from this thread. Thank you! If you want to learn more about Bryson and our family, check out our CBC Podcast Unlocking Bryson's Brain cbc.ca/listen/cbc-pod… (29)

I'm also raising money this month to find treatments and cures for people living with GRIN Disorder like my son Bryson. Here's the link in case you're able and inclined. curegrinfoundation.salsalabs.org/getmovingforgr… (30)