Effectiveness of COVID vaccine.

[paulus65]

Been on pred for nearly 4 years with PMR - tapered from 30 down to 4mgs now. I have been triple jabbed but am wondering how much protection from Covid do I have. Was having the vaccine a complete waste of time or is some degree of protection given?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

No-one knows how much protection anyone has - but the evidence is that having the vaccine and then continuing with the non-pharmaceutical measures is the best protection you can achieve for yourself. The non-pharmaceutical measures do achieve a lot, otherwise last winter would have been far worse. For healthy people the vaccine is very obviously protective from serious illness - for us it is less clear but it depends on the person - some have as good antibody protection as healthy subjects. But just in case - wear a mask, keep your distance and wash you hands! At the low dose you have been on recently, it is very likely you have developed protection - maybe not against catching it, but at the very least, against serious illness.

[Seacat30]

They are saying that they believe that the effectiveness of the 3rd vaccination starts to drop significantly for protection against catching Omicron after 10 weeks. (I think that means for everyone not just the immunocompromised.) Hopefully a modified vaccine will be developed soon.

[Nextoneplease in reply to Seacat30]

Yes, I saw that Seacat . Also saw that protection from serious illness may last for considerably longer…..but who knows…

[piglette in reply to Seacat30]

Astra Zeneca and Pfizer are both working on an Omicron vaccine. Probably a lot of the others are too.

[MaryA_]

I asked my oncologist and he told me to have the vaccines, because of my health , it might not be 100% , it’s better to have 80% then none at allMaryA

[herdysheep]

I see no reason not to believe that vaccine is better than no vaccine, but not to take anything for granted and continue with all the precautions we can as per pmrpro response. No crystal balls, even at Christmas!

[singingloud]

I can only speak From my experience. I was at 13mg of prednisone I believe when I received my first two jabs in late winter of 2021. On November 9th I received my third and I was at 10mg. That very day my husband came down with the symptoms of Covid and was also fully vaccinated. He was a very healthy 71year old. My 87 year old mom came down with Covid also. I did not get Covid and I had to be their caregiver for two weeks. So for me the vaccines worked along with my masks, washing hands and keeping my distance as much as possible.My brother caught Covid around the same time but did not vaccinate and ended up in hospital for a full week. He tried to return to work but he can’t go long without his oxygen at 30 days out.

I say it was worth it for me.

[PMRCanada]

My GP discussed the vaccine given my daily dose of 9mg. Because we could not accurately measure my antibody levels, he suggested better to have some protection than none. So I got 2 shots of Moderna, and yesterday a booster dose.

I ended up getting COVID (May/21), but was able to stay home for the 10 days I was ill, unlike my unvaccinated stepdad who ended up in ICU for 9 days (granted he is 12 years older, a smoker with diabetes and high blood pressure).

Whatever my response to the vaccine is, I’m grateful to have some protective value than none.