The vaccine could be a lifesaver for us.
Before the week was over, however,multiplereportsappeared showing that immunocompromised people werenot producing antibodiesafter getting vaccinated.
Hope suddenly turned into fear.
Less than a month later, on May 13, the CDC releasednew mask and distancing guidelines.
These contradictory guidelines have implications for everyone, not just immunocompromised people.
Moreover, the best estimate we have for the number of immunosuppressed Americansapproximately 8.5 millionis an undercount.
So, you might be putting someone in your circle at risk who doesnt realize they are immunocompromised.
That someone might even be you.
This responseproduces antibodiesand rallies virus-killing cells to eliminate an infection before it has time to wreak irreparable damage.
Upon closer inspection, the studies on vaccine immunity in the immunocompromised are not all doom-and-gloom.
Second, antibodies are not the only marker of COVID-19 immunity.
Healthy people have recovered from COVID-19infectionswithoutproducingantibodies, because immune cells known as T cells picked up the slack.
However, upon closer inspection, the studies on vaccine immunity in the immunocompromised are not all doom-and-gloom.
What weve seen here [for IBD patients] is very reassuring, she said.
Thats why the CDC guidelinesthat youmayneed to continue masking, because youmightnot have immunityare so frustratingly, unhelpfully broad.
(You thought I was going to say get vaccinated, right?)
Getting vaccinated is the second most important thing we can do.
Dont get me wrong: Getting vaccinated is the second most important thing we can do.
(If youre not sure if the medication youre on is immunosuppressive, check outthis list.)
Admittedly, this advice is often easier said than done.
The earliest appointment I could get with my specialist was a month away.
Masking in public spaces like hotel and apartment lobbies also protects staff who cant leave their posts.
You dont know what kind of health conditions the people working in those spaces have, Moss said.
Finally, a little more intention when planning informal and formal gatherings can make a huge difference.
Whenever possible, go outdoors or hybrid.
I will therefore mask indoors in essential places, around essential workers, and around children.
(Ill probably mask outdoors, too, but thats my anxiety talking and not the science.)
Most of all, Ill be more open about this invisible disability of immunosuppression.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, its how interconnected we all are.
What hasnt spread as successfully is information to the people who need it.
This article cant fill those gaps, even if it goes viral (pun intended).
Just like the COVID-19 vaccine itself, however, the information in it could be a lifesaver.
