‘Better Than Nothing’: Doctors Urge High-Risk Patients To Get Vaccines … Patients with weakened immune systems should still avoid large crowds and take pandemic precautions even as official restrictions on masks and social distancing are eased.
Life in the islands may seem to be returning to a semblance of normality as COVID-19 vaccines add a layer of protection, but patients with weakened immune systems may face the threat of infection regardless of whether they have received a shot.
That’s because the vaccines currently on the market may not work as well for people who are immunocompromised, whether because of a genetic disorder, a disease, a recent organ transplant or medication, some studies show.
Nearly 7 of 10 patients Dr. Tarquin Collis sees fall into that category. As the chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center, he said he has advised them to get the COVID-19 vaccine anyway, even if their ability to produce antibodies against the coronavirus may be hindered.
