High-risk cancer patients getting vaccinated at rates much lower than rest of community
SAN ANTONIO - High-risk cancer patients are choosing to get the Covid-19 vaccination shot at significantly lower levels than the general population, according to a new survey.
A total of 194 high-risk cancer patients were surveyed about their vaccine status. Just 56 percent have received the vaccine. That compares to 76 percent of the general population.
"That is a bit surprising," says Dr. Sukeshi Arora, co-author of the study and an associate professor. "We would think that patients who are on chemotherapy who are potentially immunosuppressed may be more likely to get a vaccination.
"It also teaches us that there is a lot of fear and worry about is it okay to get a vaccine when you’re on chemotherapy."
The survey was conducted by the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.
"I think that was really significant because our cancer patients are at really high risk of poor outcomes from Covid," says Dr. Kate Lathrop, lead author on the study. She's presenting it at the Breast Cancer Symposium being held at the Convention Center this week.
"It was concerning that we were falling behind our average in the community."
The American Cancer Society recommends most cancer patients get the vaccine because of the risk of severe Covid cases to people with fragile immune systems. Even some protection from the vaccine is better than nothing, according to the ACS.
Breast cancer survivor Diana Pulido initially thought she would wait to get vaccinated, but quickly changed her mind.
"I personally felt safer knowing that I’d get that vaccine - and should I contract Covid - in hopes of not having such a strong strain," Pulido says.
"In just listening to the facts about contracting the disease, and the possibilities of it going really, really bad, so I wanted to protect myself from that."
The top reason cancer patients listed for declining the shot was a surprising one.
"They really hadn’t been told by their physician to get the vaccine," Lathrop says. "That’s something we can easily do."
When patients discuss the vaccine with their doctors, the percentage still unwilling to get the shot dropped to 20 percent.
"It does matter. You should bring it up in every conversation if possible," Dr. Arora says. "We really can make a big difference by talking to patients and their family members.
"I think that physician-patient relationship can be very helpful and we can take advantage of that and really talk to patients on a 1-on-1 basis."