Booster Shots for the Immunosuppressed

What is the name of the antibody test you take in that study? The one I got in the UNC study is from Lab Corp Cov2Quant IgG

Found out we have to wait for the CDC guidelines before the 3rd dose is authorized. I want to get the booster if I can since my antibodies were lower than others in the same study and it was 3 months ago when I had the test. Hopefully the CDC moves quickly. There are some people who didn't get any antibody response at all so they really need that booster.

I am impatiently waiting. With a 0 on my antibody test I am chomping at the bit.

And you correct that Doctor's, pharmacies, clinics, county vaccination sites.... are all waiting on further guidance. The ones I called today were overwhelmed with phone calls and were not making a waiting list. They stated I needed to wait for the information to come out and then contact my provider..

But heres a question...How are they going to know if the people coming in for the booster are really immunocompromised?

Clo

My doctor emailed me at 8 am this morning that the ruling from late last night would not qualify me for a booster but that he suspects that this will change by the end of the day today (I take Imuran). He also said to expect at least a 2-3 week wait before boosters will be made available to the public, but to keep checking the CDC's webpage

From the CDC website today (Friday Aug 13, 2021)
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html

"However, an additional dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine after an initial 2-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccine series should be considered for people with moderate to severe immune compromise due to a medical condition or receipt of immunosuppressive medications or treatments. These conditions and treatments include but are not limited to:
Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies
Receipt of solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
Receipt of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy)
Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
Advanced or untreated HIV infection
Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids (i.e., ≥20mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis (TNF) blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory."

Also from the same CDC page:

"The utility of serologic testing or cellular immune testing to assess immune response to vaccination and guide clinical care (e.g., as part of need assessment for an additional dose) has not been established. Serologic testing or cellular immune testing outside of the context of research studies is not recommended at this time."

I have had 3 covid vaccines (1× Astrazeneca and 2x pfizer) and would happily take a 4th if offered. I collect vaccines 😁.

The evidence coming from israel (pfizer data only) is that antibody levels may decline significantly in 6 months (the flaw of the study is that the earliest vaccinated patients were the most elderly and therefore not necessary representative of the population as a whole). So i will take anything that boosts my antibody levels.

The average long covid patient is female and 40 (=me) so that has been my residual fear of covid.

I had side effects after all 3 vaccines, they were different each time (and included fever, headache, chills and muscle aches) but i can't say one was worse than the other. Only after the 3rd shot i had a headache for over a week which was very annoying.

I have friends who already had 4 covid shots (2x pf and 2x moderna) and they are fine too although apparently the 2nd moderna kicked butt for a couple of days

I’m Curious twin girl. What was your process for getting the 3rd shot? Dr ordered or “yourself”? Did they question you as to what disease/ medications? Did you go to a vaccination clinic, dr, or pharmacy? Was insurance and issue?

Decided to take the Covid vaccine. Still waiting for the second one . The only one offered was the Moderna. Florida is now offering Monoclonal antibody treatments for people with vaccines or without. Think after the second one I may opt for going that route.

I think pharmacies will offer the 3rd vaccine to people on immunos to avoid having the vaccines go past their expiration date.

CVS, at least in California, is giving the third doses as of today. I am getting mine later this afternoon. I was on methotrexate, either Inflectra or Entyvio, and either budesonide or 60mg of pred while getting my first two and for 2 months after. I just came off of everything last month because I had a total colectomy, but bc I was on all this stuff at the time, I may not have mounted a sufficient immune response, so the doctor recommended I get it when available.

A good resource is gasteroenterologist, David Rubin's Twitter. He has a 9 part tweet on whether we should get the booster or not. There's a lot unknown, the recommendation for a booster isn't based on hard data for us.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ibdmd

NY state has yet to release their plans for booster shots, glad California has already opened them up.
My husband’s stepfather is a GI in IBD research at UC San Diego and he emailed me today telling me to make sure I get one.