Hi All,

For those of you who have managed to get vaccinated, which one did they give you? I find the difference between countries interesting. Here in my province the health officer has indicated that neither the Moderna nor Pfizer vaccines are approved for cancer patients. I believe they are planning to vaccinate those with compromised immune systems with the Astra Zeneca vaccine (which only received approval in Canada this week). Of course, it has a much lower efficacy.

I am not aware of any supporting evidence indicating the mRNA vaccines are not effective for cancer patients. I think the issue is more that this was not studied - not exactly surprising given the speed at which these vaccines were developed. Bit frustrating here in the north too!

Every site that I looked at here in my area of the USAis giving Moderna or Pfizer. My sister got Moderna. I don’t think AstraZeneca is approved in the US yet? I do know J&J is about to be.

I am a little “leery” about the vaccines that act on the immune system. My logic, which could be completely wrong I know, is that since my cancer is currently under control with Herceptin which is a form of immune therapy, is it really a good idea to do any “tampering “ with my immune response?

I wish there was a scientific answer to my question but I am not sure there is yet, with no studies on cancer patients and none specifically with Herceptin. I know one of the big cancer centers here came out with a statement that it’s safe but...for everyone with cancer? And every type of medication?

in reference to scans , yes, there is a post from the mods here about mammograms and the vaccine - it can cause swelling in the lymph nodes that would give a false positive on a mammo. My scan just got postponed for another two weeks, so I am not going to try to grab any appointments for vaccines just yet.

My above concerns also make me wonder if I should wait for the J&J vaccine, which acts differently than the others. I have not spoken to my doctor about my concerns yet.

Jackie, my MO gave me an instruction, take off ibrance 7 days before and 7 days after each shot.

chowdog,

I don’t have a good answer since my mo did not consider my bc to be a pre-existing condition in the sense that I needed to be prioritized. Stage IV, in and of itself, is not necessarily a pre-existing condition. Perhaps ask your mo? Cheaters? Yes, they exist and , sadly, always will.

Olma,

mRNA give instructions for our cells to make a spike protein. Our bodies recognize the protein as alien and start building an immune response and making antibodies. mRNA never enters the cell nucleus where the dna is. It is very specific to Covid19 so it’s not tampering with your immune system in general.

When you actually are offered an appointment , a lot of questions are asked including type of insurance you have and if you have any pre-existing conditions, as well as address and county and insurance card number and race and date of birth etc- they say they will require you to bring proof- but, they didn't look at mine, they do give you a code on your phone as well. I think all of these questions were for demographics to tell the truth. when I actually was getting the vaccine there was one person who does the paper work and simply asked me my date of birth and found me on her schedule.

My doctor sent me a lot of data from MSK about their predictions about the vaccine in people with cancer. They thought that we wouldn't get as good of a response as someone without immune issues, but, was still worthwhile to do. They did list all the preservatives etc- most of them I have had multiple times- they are in faslodex and all sorts of other shots.

In the USA we only have Moderna and Pfizer at this time- I was told to get whichever I could get. We will have J and J soon.

All vaccines (if they work) cause an immune response- that's how they work.

I am on Xeloda- my MO did not tell me to stop it- I was on my off week anyway when I got the first one. When I got the shingrix shot I was on my off week for Ibrance for the first one- but, not for the second one.

On a related topic, the following link has a few interesting graphics showing these numbers:

Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution by state: How many people have been vaccinated in the US?

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2021/01...

Iwrite-My MO said to not stop my Ibrance but other people's doctors have advised them to stop for a week before and a week after, so maybe check in with your doctor to see what they think. I'm excited-I'm getting my first dose on Tuesday! At first I was going to drive to Carbondale but fortunately I was able to get an appointment up in Antioch instead. Phew! Good luck with your second shot.

We live in a small rural community in Wisconsin. My husband is on the medical staff of the only hospital in the county. All medical providers were vaccinated in January. He had no side effects. I received both vaccines by mid-February. On the second day after my second vaccine I had moderate fatigue and moderate joint/muscle pain. Lasted 24 hours then I was fine. Consider myself very lucky. Have heard some stories of rough side effects.

Yes! Yesterday, 3/3 was my first vaccine, Pfizer. Levi’s Stadium home to the San Francisco 49’ers, was the site (trivia: the stadium is in Santa Clara about an hour south of San Francisco!). Extremely well organized and most of those present were in the field of education so it was a very collegial atmosphere. Injection site is slightly sore and I happily await dose two later this month

i received my 2nd dose of Moderna on Wednesday 3/3. So far, just arm pain and more tired than usual. I had chemo today. They told me it was ok as long as they were scheduled 48 hours apart. I didn’t mean for it to work outthis way but the week I was scheduled for treatment was the big winter storm in TX so it threw my schedule off. In TX they do not ask for proof of eligibility.

I am fortunate to get my scans in a large regional hospital system that received a large supply of vaccines for its patients a few months ago.They notified me of my eligibility (age) via the patient portal. What a great surprise! The first jab was nothing; the second produced a low-grade fever, chills and body aches for two days, but so what?

Grateful that having cancer finally brought me something good,

Tina

chowdog,

What does your mo say about this? I think he/she would be the best person to ask. Despite being stage IV, my current tx does not require bloodwork so this was not an issue for me. All the best.

chow dog- I’m getting my second Moderna on March 12 and labs March 15- so I will let you know. Once I had labs same day as PET- after no carbs for a day and morning fasting for scan my labs were the best they’d been in years, went back to usual the next month. My MO said it was merely serendipity

If you get scans after you receive the Covid-19 vaccine, don't be alarmed if the reports indicate newly enlarging lymph nodes in your armpit or chest. They are likely caused by the vaccine. I speak from personal experience. Let your doctor know you've had the shots!

Tina