Vaccinated, Boostered, and COVID Positive!

I’m fully vaccinated and boostered — am I safe from COVID? I thought the answer was yes until recently. Even though the Omicron variant was starting to run across the country on the heels of the Delta variant, I figured that I was pretty safe. After all, I had my three vaccines and I use hand sanitizer and wear a mask wherever I go. I believed that even if I got COVID, I would have a very mild case, like a cold, or even be asymptomatic.

A friend with lung cancer and COVID

Then, a good friend of mine living with lung cancer, Jill Feldman, tested positive for COVID. She was also fully vaccinated and boostered. I had actually spent time with her a few days prior to her positive result and we had eaten together, of course unmasked, so I ran to be tested. I was lucky and tested negative. I felt like I had a close call, though.

Meanwhile Jill, despite her vaccination status, ended up being hospitalized for a couple of days. She is home by now and seems on the road to recovery, but she has dealt with lowered oxygen levels, blood pressure drops, extreme fatigue, and terrible headaches and body aches. Definitely not a mild case!

Concerns about being immunocompromised

What did I learn from her situation? Well, it certainly made me wonder a little more about being immunocompromised. When my oncologist told me several months ago to get the third COVID vaccination for patients who are immunocompromised, I kind of felt like I was cheating a little bit because I am on targeted therapy and did not consider myself to be immunocompromised. However, like me, Jill takes targeted therapy pills. Did that make her more susceptible to COVID despite her vaccinations? It’s hard to know, but it’s a possibility.

I also learned that even if you get COVID and are considered high risk for complications as a person with lung cancer, the path to getting monoclonal antibodies still seems pretty confusing. At different times, Jill was told that they were only being given to pregnant women and that they were only being given to the unvaccinated before she finally ended up getting the treatment. Despite the reasons why, it’s clear that with the new surge in COVID, there is a shortage of this treatment, and changing decisions are being made about which “high risk” patients should get them. Hopefully, with the recent FDA approval of Pfizer’s and Merck’s anti-viral COVID pills, there will soon be more treatment options for those of us at high risk for more serious disease.^1,2

Gathering all the information

In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what this all means for me and my family over the holidays. Although we are not planning to travel, both of my sons are home from college and we are hoping to see their grandmother and do some outings in the city of Chicago. While we are all vaccinated and boostered, we are going to try to be even more careful than usual and take advantage of the free COVID testing sites in our area in advance of getting together with others. However, others whom we randomly come into contact with may not be doing the same and this is scary.

According to the CDC, those of us who have qualified for third vaccines because of our immunocompromised status are eligible for a fourth vaccine as a booster after an additional six months have passed.³ This has not been publicized that much, so I feel that it’s important to share here! I certainly plan to get this additional booster as soon as I become eligible.

Editor’s Note: We are extremely saddened to say that on June 23, 2024, Ivy Elkins passed away. Ivy’s advocacy efforts and writing continue to reach many. She will be deeply missed.