A new medical study is ongoing on whether organ transplant recipients should receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to boost their antibodies against COVID. Chief Medical Officer and Regional Medical Director of Specialty Services at OSF HealthCare in Galesburg, Monmouth, and Kewanee Dr. Harley Brooks says prior research indicated half of organ transplant recipients did not show antibody response after two doses:
“Prior research showed that about half of organ transplant recipients did not show an antibody response even after two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Even in transplant recipients who did show an antibody response, the response was often more muted or less than it is in patients with healthy immune systems. This is really important as there are more than 400,000 people in the United States living with organ transplants.”
In a small study out of John Hopkins that tracked 30 transplant recipients receiving a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, Dr. Brooks informed that one third of them had no detectible antibodies prior showed an increase in their antibody levels and all patients that showed lower levels of antibodies beforehand, showed a higher level of antibodies after the third dose.
