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The death of former Secretary of State Colin Powell from complications from Covid-19 on Monday provided fuel for vaccine skeptics and dissidents who quickly seized on the news that Mr.
But Mr. Powell’s immune system was greatly weakened by multiple myeloma, a cancer of white blood cells. Both the disease and the treatment can make people more susceptible to infections.
The scientists said that age 84 may also have increased the risk.
His longtime aide, Peggy Cifrino, said Mr. Powell received his second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February. He was scheduled for a booster last week but fell ill before I got it, he said. Mr. Powell also said he was being treated for early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
Although Mr. Powell’s death was a high-profile tragedy, scientists stressed that it should not shake confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, which have greatly reduced the chances of serious illness and death.
Director of the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital Vaccine Education Center, Dr. “Nothing is 100 percent effective,” said Paul A. Offit. “The point of getting vaccinated is that you want to know that the benefits clearly and unequivocally outweigh the risks. And we know that for this vaccine.”
Vaccines are very effective, even against the more contagious Delta variantis currently responsible for nearly all coronavirus infections in the United States. People who are fully vaccinated roughly one-tenth hospitalized and even less likely to die According to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people get Covid-19 than those who are unvaccinated.
A Analysis of the New York Times Data from 40 states found that fully vaccinated people accounted for 0.2 to 6 percent of Covid-19 deaths.
Among the more than 187 million fully vaccinated Americans, there were 7,178 deathsAccording to the CDC, eighty-five percent of these deaths occurred in people aged 65 and older.
Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston, Dr. Peter J. Hotez said: “Travelling deaths are occurring in vaccinated individuals.” “But there are some groups that are at greater risk.”
Since the start of the pandemic, it has been clear that older adults are most likely to develop severe Covid-19. They also generally have less strong immune systems and a weaker immune response to vaccines.
Inside a new studyThe researchers found that residents of Canadian long-term care homes, with a median age of 88, produced roughly five to six times lower levels of neutralizing antibodies after vaccination. average age 47.
“This not only puts them at risk of being infected by Covid, but also has serious consequences,” said Anne-Claude Gingras, senior researcher at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and lead author of the study.
Mr. Powell had been treated for multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Plasma cells produce antibodies and therefore play a critical role in the immune system.
Both disease and treatment – which can include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and steroids – can leave patients more vulnerable to infections.
“Colin was being treated for multiple myeloma but seemed to be responding well,” said Kathy Giusti, who founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and met Mr. Powell when she spoke at a foundation event. “Immunosuppression is a well-known side effect of cancer treatment and a reminder that as patients we are at high risk, especially if we are over 65.”
Also, vaccines are likely to be less effective in people with multiple myeloma.
D., medical and scientific director of the Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research Institute in West Hollywood, California. “The treatments we use indiscriminately destroy both malignant and normal immune cells,” said James R. Berenson.
This puts patients at “double the risk of not getting a response to a vaccine and also not responding when they get sick,” he added.
What You Need to Know About Covid-19 Booster Shots
The FDA has allowed booster shots for a select group of people who are taking their second dose. Pfizer-BioNTech Get the vaccine at least six months in advance. This group includes: vaccine recipients aged 65 and over or living in long-term care facilities; adults at high risk of serious Covid-19 due to an underlying medical condition; healthcare workers and others whose jobs put them at risk. with people weakened immune systems they are eligible to receive a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna four weeks after the second shot.
The CDC said conditions that qualify a person for a booster shot include: hypertension and heart disease; diabetes or obesity; cancer or blood diseases; weakened immune system; chronic lung, kidney, or liver disease; dementia and some disabilities. Pregnant women and current and former smokers are also eligible.
The FDA has allowed boosters for workers whose jobs put them at risk of exposure to potentially infectious humans. The CDC says the group includes: emergency health workers; education workers; food and agricultural workers; manufacturing workers; correction workers; US Postal Service employees; public transport workers; grocery workers.
Yeah. The CDC says the Covid vaccine can be administered regardless of the timing of other vaccines, and many pharmacy sites allow people to schedule a flu shot at the same time as a booster dose.
Inside A study published in July, Dr. Berenson and colleagues found that only 45 percent of people with active multiple myeloma “developed an adequate response” after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The researchers found that people who received the Pfizer vaccine had, on average, lower antibody levels than those who received Moderna. Older patients and those not yet in complete remission also had lower antibody levels.
It is unclear what kind of treatment Mr. Powell received for his multiple myeloma or whether he is in complete remission. However, Dr. Even patients in remission may have compromised their immune systems, Berenson said.
Dr. “Often—but not in all cases—they maintain an immunocompromised state even if they have had a good response to their treatment,” Berenson said. “In most cases, antibody levels do not return to normal.”
In a new study scheduled to be published Monday in the journal Cancer Cell, researchers report that some people with multiple myeloma also have poor T-cell responses after vaccination. T cells can help reduce the severity of the disease in people who are infected with the virus.
The study included 44 people with multiple myeloma who had received at least two weeks since their second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Of these people, 17 did not produce detectable antibodies to the virus after vaccination. These patients had significantly fewer helper T cells that activate other parts of the immune response to the virus, compared with multiple myeloma patients who produced antibodies after vaccination.
Hematologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, who led the research. Samir Parekh said the good news is that research suggests booster vaccines for people with multiple myeloma “seem extremely promising.”
“Patients who do not receive them should do so right away,” he added.
Brown University School of Public Health dean Dr. Ashish K. Jha said the best way to protect older adults and others with compromised immune systems is to get everyone else vaccinated.
“When there are lots of infections in the community, it also infects people who have been vaccinated,” he said. “And the vulnerable are really at risk.”
Eric Schmitt and Christine Hauser contributing reporting.
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