Just read this and felt it might be of interest, especially to those in the UK (you could take part).
"Study launched into Covid-19 vaccine response among cancer patients
DPA, Mar 03, 2021, Britain is launching a study to examine whether patients with immunosuppressed conditions have a less effective immune response to Covid-19 vaccinations, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body said on Wednesday.
The trial, called Octave, is to analyse patients suffering from cancer, inflammatory arthritis, kidney or liver disease and stem cell transplant patients, UKRI said in a statement.
It aims to investigate the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines used in Britain in 2021 on 5,000 people who have been diagnosed with these conditions.
Current evidence shows that people with those chronic illnesses may not obtain optimal protection from established vaccines, according to the researchers.
"We urgently need to understand if patient populations with chronic conditions such as cancer, inflammatory arthritis and kidney and liver disease are likely to be well-protected by current Covid-19 vaccines," Iain McInnes at the University of Glasgow, who is leading the study, said.
"The Octave study will give us invaluable new data to help us answer questions of this kind from our patients and their families," he added.
In order to establish a real likelihood of the vaccines' effectiveness in these groups, the researchers are to take blood samples before and after the respondents get their jabs to determine their Covid-19 immune response.
The study, which is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), is a collaborative project between the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Imperial College London and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust."
Written by
Iupiter
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Thanks. I guess I missed that post. Do you have a link for the Birmingham study you mention bellow? I'd like to show it to my doctor when I see him next week. (I'm in the USA).
So in follow up to my previous post, someone reached out to me yesterday to see if my husband would be interested in participating in a similar study.
His blood would be tested prior to receiving the vaccine and then tested afterwards (not sure for how long) to see if the vaccine was effective. (Not sure if this study is related to the Octave study.)
I was hoping they would be able to provide the vaccine but found out this morning that unfortunately he has to get the vaccine on his own. Not sure at this point if he'll be able to participate.
I think the Octave study is also UK based as it is getting UK government funding? It is a study across multiple UK universities:
"A new UK study will seek to understand the immune response to COVID-19 vaccinations in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions, including cancer.
The OCTAVE trial, which is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), is a collaborative research project involving groups in the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Imperial College London and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Researchers will build on years of experience in understanding the immune system in the context of chronic conditions, to better determine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in these clinically at-risk patient groups."
"Researchers have begun recruiting patients at sites across the UK and will compare results from the study group against control groups of healthy people, without these underlying diseases, who also received COVID-19 vaccines. The OCTAVE study will evaluate patients who receive COVID-19 vaccines as part of the national vaccination programme."
Possibly your partner has been approached by a USA based research study?
Are there big variations by state in getting the vaccine? My brother is in Califonia and he and his wife had their vaccine mid February and they have no underlying health conditions nor are they health or key workers. Hopefully your partner's key consultant will chase up getting a priority vaccine for you both.
Your right - it is probably a separate study. This one also participated in the Moderna and J&J COVID vaccine studies. It is very good news that this is becoming a focus!
The vaccine rollout varies wildly from State-to-State but it is suppose to be rolled out in phases based on criteria.
I won't go into a lot of detail here what I've been through trying to get us scheduled but alot of it now is about talking to someone who knows someone who knows someone.
This apparently is common but it also means giving out personal information through unofficial channels.
Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal, which provides tips in getting scheduled. It also is highlights the problems, especially in my State.
Is this the same as the University of Birmingham study mentioned on here a few days back and that a number of members have signed up for? healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
No I am of the understanding that the birmingham university one is specifically for people with CLL were as I think the Octave study is for both autoimmune and immune
U of Birmingham is one of six university departments and hospitals collaborating on the Octave study. I don't know which ones are processing participants as the study doesn't seem to be on the worldwide clinicaltrials.gov database yet.
The trial plans to recruit 5,000 people including CLL patients, other high risk cancer patients, and a range of others with weakened immune systems. Study duration 12 months.
I don't know of any such study on CLL patients only.
It seems that the following post by Hairbear-uk a month ago
"NEW trial now opened by Birmingham University CLL specialists in UK to measure your response as CLL patients to the vaccine."
"This is an important study to collect much needed information, please help if you can.
Details below forwarded from the trials organisers.
Covid-19 vaccine study for patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL)
•This is a new study looking at the immune response to COVID19 vaccination amongst patients with CLL.
•There are now several COVID-19 vaccines available in the UK. Their relative efficacy in patients with CLL is not yet clear.
•We are interested to study the profile of the immune response that is elicited after vaccination in patients with CLL.
•For this study we are asking participants if they would be willing to have a blood sample taken following their first or second vaccination or to complete a home testing kit which we can send out in the post.
• If you would like to take part in this study please contact us by email at haematologyengagement@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call 0121-414-4491 for more info.
Thanks, I had forgotten about Hairbear's post. Can find nothing online about the particulars of either study. Is there a CLL-only study running at Birmingham Uni or has it been absorbed into the broader Octave study at Birmingham and five other Unis?
I won't be participating but like most of us would like to know the findings.
Thanks for taking the time to find those refs. Published reports all print similar stuff but I couldn't find details of the trial, like inclusion criteria, end points, methods, how to apply etc. And nothing at all about the CLL-vaccination trial heralded by Hairbear.
Maybe try contacting Birmingham University arm, they are very approachable and so may well email you the criteria? The phone number is on the Hairbear link
I am taking part in the trial. I have had vaccine then covid....still not producing any IgG Neutralising antibodies.... check then every week My wife also checking weekly as she also vaccinated because she lives with me although she is 17 years younger ... Nice to have a GP as a mate.
I’m taking part in the Birmingham study. It’s a shame this new one wasn’t announced earlier as they seem to want to check people before and after the vaccine. In the UK most Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people (like ourselves) have already been jabbed !
This is excellent news - the only problem is that most of us in the U.K. have already had our first vaccination (hooray!), which makes testing our blood before vaccination tricky....
Mayo Clinic study- NCT04748185, 20-012589, Immunogenicity and Safety of Commercially Available Vaccines Against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies. Contact Mayo for a complete description of the study.
Well I would have volunteered to participate but they’re a bit late with it. I good proportion of CLL sufferers (and many others in the suggested candidate group) have already had the first jab if not the 2nd one too. We were prioritised so have already had it. They really should have got organised a bit sooner.
About 4 studies ongoing or planned in the UK, 1 in France I believe, and about a dozen in the works in the US in the works, all looking at the same issue, immune response to the vaccine in immunocompromised folks like us. There are probably more that I don't know about.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
CLL Medications and Corona Virus
Immunology Consult? (New here)
The more symptoms the better? Covid-19 vaccine side effects and long-term neutralizing antibody 
