What Cancer Patients Need to Know About the Covid-19 Vaccine & Treatment in Summer 2022 – SurvivorNet

While many Covid-19 restrictions are being, or have already been, relaxed nation-wide, vulnerable people like those living with cancer may be concerned about going back out into the world, especially with so many questions remaining about the virus. If you have cancer, you have a higher risk of developing severe Covid, but it can be hard to follow how many boosters to get, what kind of precautions to keep up, and beyond when it comes to the virus.

For many people who currently have or previously had cancer, current guidelines can be confusing. Should you be getting each vaccine booster? Are masks still a must in all public places? What about available treatments if you do get Covid-19? We consulted experts to come up answers to these important questions when it comes to cancer and Covid-19.

Hematologist/oncologist Dr. Thomas Martin explains why blood cancer patients may be more at risk for severe Covid-19.

There are also certain cancer treatments that may make people more vulnerable to Covid infections, even if they are vaccinated. These include patients who:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over 6 months old get the Covid vaccine and that includes most people with cancer and those who were previously treated for the disease. People with an increased risk of developing severe Covid, including cancer patients, should also get booster shots. While it is recommended that all members of the public get one booster shot, those with an increased risk should get two.

Whatever you get, either [Pfizer or Moderna], we encourage people to get their two extra boosters, Dr. John Greene, chair of Moffitt Cancer Centers Infectious Disease Program, tells SurvivorNet.

You may have heard that some people should get a third booster shot, but Dr. Greene explains that this is not needed in most cases.

As far as a third booster, thats very rare and it depends on what their immune system is doing, he explains. Dr. Greene adds that if a patient is interested in getting another booster shot (with the Pfizer and Moderna shots, that would be five shots in total), they can request that, but its not common.

As we all know, there have already been several variants of Covid-19 and immunocompromised people may be worried how safe they are from new strains, even with the vaccine.

The new omicron strains are rapidly mutating and becoming less and less covered by the current vaccine, so the companies are vigorously working on trying to get a new vaccine that covers all the new emerging variants, Dr. Greene explains. The might be out in six months to a year, but until then, we work with what we have.

There are a few situations where a doctor may recommend that a patient with cancer wait to get a vaccine or booster. One of those situations is when a patient has already had a recent Covid infection.

Many of our patients are getting infected with the new variant, Dr. Greene says. And that immunity will give them protection from reinfection for at least 90 days. So after the 90 days are up, they can get a booster.

Another situation is when a patients immune system has been so severely affected by treatment that it would simply not be beneficial to get them the vaccine Because their chance of mounting an immune response is zero to 20 percent, Dr. Greene says. An example Dr. Greene gave was Rituxan (rituximab), which is a monoclonal antibody used to treat some blood cancers. Because this drugs knocks out immune producing cells, it would not make sense to try to mount an immune response to Covid while patients are taking the drug.

If a person with cancer gets sick with a Covid infection, there are a few different treatment approaches doctors can take. Which approach your doctor goes with, and whether Covid treatment is required at all, will depend on several factors.

Drugs that may be used to treat Covid include:

These drugs cannot be given to all patients, and Paxlovid in particular has the potential for interaction with other drugs.

The other drugs are quite safe for most people, except theres a few exceptions for people with severe liver or kidney issues, Dr. Greene says.

When it comes to going about their everyday lives, cancer patients should continue to use caution but also keep in mind that we are in a much different place than we were in spring of 2020.

For now, the National Cancer Institute still recommends people with an increased risk from Covid continue to follow guidelines like:

Cancer patients are one of the safest groups of all [when it comes to Covid precautions], Dr. Greene says. The vast majority of them are ultra-safe no matter what, so theyre going to be pretty strict about not going to crowded areas and if they do, to wear a mask and wash hands frequently and be as distant as possible.

Dr. Greene also pointed out that despite case numbers, current Omicron is a less severe variant than Delta was. Still, its a good idea to continue being cautious as the virus continues to linger.

The CDC also has a tool that lets you check the level of Covid in your community and adjust your Covid precautions as needed.

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What Cancer Patients Need to Know About the Covid-19 Vaccine & Treatment in Summer 2022 - SurvivorNet