Third Covid Booster Vaccine Effective In Transplant Patients

First ever randomized placebo-controlled trial has been conducted of the third dose Covid-19 booster vaccine for transplant patients. The results showed that the third Covid booster vaccine improved protection and was very effective for transplant patients, reveal scientists at the University Health Network (UHN).// Persons who have received an organ transplant are considered to be at increased risk for Covid-19 and for a severe outcome because their immune systems are necessarily suppressed to ensure their transplants are successful and lasting.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has shown that a third dose of Covid vaccine is the best way to increase protection in them.

The team enrolled 120 transplant patients between May 25 and June 3. None of them had Covid previously and all of them had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine. Half of the participants received a third shot of the vaccine (at the 2-month mark after their second dose) and the other half received placebos.

The primary outcome was based on antibody level greater than 100 U/ml against the spike protein of the virus. In the placebo group -- after three doses (where the third dose was placebo), the response rate was only 18 per cent whereas in the Moderna three-dose group, the response rate was 55 per cent.

"This is an important win for our patients because the results are quite conclusive," said Dr Atul Humar, Medical Director of the Ajmera Transplant Centre, UHN.

"The third dose was safe and well tolerated and should lead to a change in practice of giving third doses to this vulnerable population," he added.

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In addition, 60 percent of the patients in the Moderna group also developed neutralizing antibodies versus 25 percent in the placebo group.

There was also a substantial improvement in the ability of the three-dose Moderna group to allow the patients to develop a robust T-cell response against the virus.

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Moreover, the third booster vaccine was found to be very well tolerated with only mild side effects and did not cause acute organ rejections -- an important finding, as there were concerns that repeated vaccinations could increase the incidence of organ rejection in transplant recipients, the researchers said.



Source-IANS