Third Dose available for Immunocompromised

In regards to COVID, the CDC is now recommending that people who are immunocompromised, take a third dose of the vaccine.

The CDC and FDA stated that people who are moderate to severely immunocompromised are at high risk of prolonged illness and they are now recommending that those people receive a third dose of the COVID vaccine.

“Studies show us that people, specifically, that patients who are immunocompromised are 485 times more likely to get sick and hospitalized or to even die with covid-19. So this in many ways affects our kidney population, which is why the National Kidney Foundation has been so very forceful in explaining to our kidney patients and transplant patients that their immunity is not exactly the same as everyone else's immunity. - Dr. Frita Fisher

• People who are immunocompromised included:

• Receivers of organ transplant

• The receiver of active cancer treatment relating to tumors of cancers of the blood

• Advanced or untreated HIV infection

• Receivers of drugs that may suppress the immune system

For people who aren’t compromised the first and second dose may have been enough to protect them but for people who are compromised a third dose of the vaccine could save their lives. Nephrology specialist and member of the National Kidney Foundation , Dr. Frita Fisher spoke more with us about it.

“Yes, the third dose will definitely help immunocompromised patients Studies have shown us that for immunocompromised patients specifically transplant patients such a kidney transplant patients If they got one dose of the mRNA vaccine about 15% got a good immune response; if they got two doses roughly 50% got a good immune response but for those who got that third dose more of them actually got a good immune response and so getting the third dose to immunocompromised patients will ensure they got the immunity most of the general population got.” - Nephrology specialist, Dr. Frita Fisher

MSDH reported 3,323 new cases for August 16, 2021; bringing state-wide cases to over 300,000 cases and over 7,000 deaths.

To learn more about immunocompromised groups, visit Welcome - The National Kidney Foundation