Priority COVID-19 Vaccination for Patients with Cancer while Vaccine Supply Is Limited

Abstract

Published series on COVID-19 support the notion that patients with cancer are a particularly vulnerable population. There is a confluence of risk factors between cancer and COVID-19, and cancer care and treatments increase exposure to the virus and may dampen natural immune responses. The available evidence supports the conclusion that patients with cancer, in particular with hematologic malignancies, should be considered among the very high-risk groups for priority COVID-19 vaccination.

Figure 1.

Scatter plot of COVID-19–related CFRs from series comparing rates from patients with cancer (red dots) with patients without cancer (gray dots). [Series includes publications from Sng et al. (2); Cattaneo et al. (7); Meng et al. (9); Mehta et al. (11); Brar et al. (6); Ruthrich et al. (4); Lunski et al. (5); Tian et al. (10); Wang et al. (3); and Dai et al. (12)].

Figure 2.

Forest plot of series reporting hazard ratios (HR; top in red) or odds ratios (OR; bottom in blue) for death, or severity of COVID-19 in the case of the Tian series, in patients with COVID-19 and cancer compared with no cancer. The size of the symbol is proportional to the number of individuals in each series. The line represents the lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence intervals. Negative HR or OR values favor decreased risk for death, whereas positive values represent increased risk for death or severity of COVID-19. [Series includes publications from Meng et al. (9); Williamson et al. (8); Mehta et al. (11); Williamson et al. (8); Sng et al. (2); Brar et al. (6); Tian et al. (10); Dai et al. (12); and Lunski et al. (5)].