Cancer patients and COVID-19 vaccination, from safety to protocol adherence: A real-life setting report

Abstract

BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has slowed down cancer prevention and treatment strategies; consequently, cancer patients are prioritized to get the COVID-19 vaccines. Being constantly threatened by a new outbreak, the dive within the immunogenicity response is of great value; nonetheless, evaluating the side effects of these vaccines on fragile patients will assure their adherence to the vaccination protocol.ObjectivesThis study sets out to investigate the adverse events reported about the vaccine according to its doses and types, and to compare the prevalence and severity of toxicities across two subgroups of cancer patients, those who received the injection during active therapy cycles, and those who have not started the therapy yet at vaccination time, moreover, this paper examines the will and commitment of this population to the vaccination schemes.MethodsThis is an observational, retrospective, cohort study, in which we conducted a semi-constructed interview with 415 random solid cancer patients treated at the National Institute of Oncology in Morocco. The assessment of adverse events was carried out with a standardized scale.ResultsEleven months after the launch of the campaign, 75.2% of patients received at least one dose of the vaccine. Altogether, the analysis demonstrates a significant difference between the adverse effects reported post the second dose compared to the first one (p=0.004; odds ratio=2 [95% CI: 1.23 - 3.31]). Besides, the results indicate an increase in the rank of the severity of systemic events (p<0.001, r=0.28) after the second dose, but not for the local events (p=0.92, r=0.005). In the adjusted subgroup analysis, no effect was detected linking active therapy with the occurrence of toxicity (p=0.51, v=0.04) as well as with the level of severity reported after both; the first and second dose. Due to the fear of interactions with the therapy, we noticed a significant trend to delay the booster dose among the participants who completed the initial vaccine protocol.ConclusionA considerable body of evidence exists to persuade cancer patients to take the Coronavirus vaccines, and to also follow their vaccination schemes under the supervision of their treating physicians.

Continuous care needs in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy during the recent omicron wave of COVID-19 in Shanghai: A qualitative study

“…However, a Mendelian randomization study ( Li et al, 2022 ) reported that cancers might have no causal effect on increasing COVID-19 risk. A real-life setting report ( Lamtai et al, 2022 ) recommended that cancer patients should take the COVID-19 vaccines, which might reduce the mortality rate in cancer patients with COVID-19 ( Safari et al, 2022 ), and should follow their vaccination schemes under the supervision of their treating physicians. Vitamin D supplementation and sun exposure may also be helpful for cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Vieth, 2022 ).…”