A study from Toronto’s University Health Network suggests a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine boosts immunity in transplant recipients.
Mike Willis was intrigued when he heard about a study aimed at determining the effectiveness of third-dose COVID-19 vaccine boosters for organ transplant recipients.
As a heart transplant patient who takes immune-suppressing medication every 12 hours, Willis said the chance to potentially boost his protection against COVID-19 made it easy for him to volunteer.
“I had zero antibodies after two doses,” said the 66-year-old, adding he was delighted to learn the double-blind study had given him a third dose instead of a placebo. “So anything [is] higher than nothing.”
Researchers at Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) who led the study say findings released Wednesday suggest a third-dose booster is the “best way to increase protection” in transplant recipients.
And as the highly transmissible delta variant drives cases in parts of the country, they say there’s more urgency to ensure transplant patients, who often don’t mount a sufficient immune response with a normal two-dose series, can augment their protection.
“As I see it, there are transplant patients that are completely unprotected right now, even though they’ve had two doses,” said Dr. Deepali Kumar, director of transplant infectious diseases at UHN and joint-senior author of the study.
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