Faced with the threat of COVID-19, some people say they trust their immune system. Others are not so lucky … For them, vaccinating children is one more way to limit the spread of the virus to which they know they are vulnerable.
Like hundreds of thousands of Quebecers, the health of Maryse Roy, of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, depends on the collective immune shield. She had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis for several years, and had never yet realized how vulnerable her health was to viruses. His autoimmune disease, which strikes more than 300,000 Canadians, attacks the joints and is treated with medication that weakens the immune system.
In her case, no matter how many doses of vaccine she receives, the flu is more likely to degenerate into pneumonia.
“Long before COVID-19, I used to disinfect my hands regularly and warn people I visited for my job to cancel the appointment if they had flu symptoms,” said this 59-year-old Estrienne. COVID-19 poses an even greater risk, and vaccines are noticeably less effective at protecting immunosuppressed.
Speaking with my doctor, I realized that if I caught this, I was much more likely to go to the hospital than someone my healthy age.
Maryse Roy
“Immunosuppressed people don’t just affect a very small number of people,” says Dr.r Donald Vinh, of the MUHC. “These are people who have cancer, leukemia, who are on hemodialysis, who have had organ transplants. ”
A weak immune system can have several causes. It can be caused by the disease itself (for example, people who are HIV positive), or by the medication used to treat an illness (chemotherapy, anti-rejection drugs, hemodialysis…). “About 1% to 2% of the population is considered to be immunosuppressed,” says Dr.r Nicholas Brousseau, from the INSPQ.
Studies have shown that a high number of immunosuppressed people did not develop enough antibodies against COVID-19 after the first dose of the vaccine. The second gave a better score, but at the end of the summer, the immunosuppressed were invited to receive a third dose. “A large proportion of this population significantly increased their antibody level with the third dose,” says Dr.r Brousseau. Will there be a fourth? Not for the moment. “Few places have distributed fourth doses,” he says. In the United States, since the end of October, people considered to be “moderately or severely immunosuppressed” may receive a fourth dose if more than six months have passed since the last dose.
PHOTO STÉPHANE LESSARD, THE NEWS
Josée Massicotte
All for one
For Josée Massicotte to be able to live an almost normal life today, it took a concerted effort from an entire society. Suffering from type 1 diabetes since her childhood, she saw her health deteriorate to such an extent that a pancreas transplant became essential about ten years ago.
To succeed in this great miracle of organ transplantation, recalls this fiftieth year from Trois-Rivières, years and years of scientific research and awareness have been invested by society. “In my case, a patron lent his private jet to my surgeon so that he could go and collect the organs in Western Canada! There are so many people who have given themselves into this, starting with the family of the deceased who accepted organ donation. ”
In short, she sighs, colossal efforts that can be simply swept away by a virus for which there is a vaccine.
I am really affected when I learn that transplant recipients have died from COVID-19. […] It all ends in death from a virus that some help spread.
Josée Massicotte
Vaccinees can catch the virus, recalls Dr Vinh. “When they have symptoms, their viral load can be as high as that of an unvaccinated person. But its decline is much faster, so they are contagious for a shorter period of time. ”
“By immunizing children aged 5 to 11, we hope to be able to reduce community transmission,” says Dr.r Vinh.
Maryse Roy finds it particularly difficult not yet being able to quantify the risk she runs by participating in certain activities. Last summer, she felt comfortable enough to frequent the outdoor terraces. But indoors, she only frequents vaccinated people, and again, keeping her distance. “I’m not the one running to kiss everyone!” She laughs.
It does not harbor animosity towards the unvaccinated. “I can understand that when you’re young and healthy, you don’t have as much empathy and understanding towards older and sick people. I also know that people who are not vaccinated are not necessarily bad people, that some people just fear the vaccine. ”
Recently, her neighbor invited her for a drink at home. She sadly declined, due to the presence of three young children. “But if the children had been vaccinated, I would have gone. ”
Monoclonal antibodies to replace the vaccine?
Across the pharmaceutical arsenal to fight COVID-19, scientists are learning to work with monoclonal antibodies. These synthetic antibodies are currently administered intravenously to some positive patients at risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19. Studies have shown that people who received these drugs were protected for several months after treatment. Would it be possible to administer these disease prevention drugs to people who have not developed enough antibodies after vaccination? “Yes, we could probably do it”, answers the D cautiously.r Vinh. “But these are also drugs that are very expensive compared to vaccines. For example, a dose of Pfizer vaccine costs less than $ 30, while treatment with monoclonal antibodies can cost more than $ 2,000.