anyone else considering a third dose booster of Pfizer or Moderna?

I received my two doses of Pfizer this past March and April. This was 7 months after my final of 4 Rituximab treatments. I have read and heard that the depletion of the immune system from such treatments can take 6 months to a year to be overcome. I have also heard from hematologists in regards to such treatments and the vaccine that the vaccines may not provide full protection if the immune system is still suppressed and in the process of repairing itself. I am definitely getting the third Pfizer booster as soon as possible and will be making arrangements tomorrow. Well make that later today since its already Monday(2 am)

I had no reaction or reduction in platelet levels after either of the first two Pfizer vaccinations. I am and have been since day one of the pandemic(except for the 7 weeks out of action last july/aug because of my ITP diagnosis) and will continue to be out in the public for my job so I figure better to be safe than sorry

I completely agree. My count dropped both times after Pfizer but I will still have a booster if/when the UK decides to start offering them.

That is interesting gozorgogo, so its been almost a year now since rituxin. Yes I would want another dose also.
Something my doctor said about getting rituximab AFTER getting the vaccine was interesting- I got the Moderna vaccine second dose in Feb. So recently, I was chatting with my hematologist about treatments and he explained that he would not give Rituxin now because it would wipe out my Covid vaccine. Rituxin he said wipes out the B memory cells which are the ones that will remember the spike protein if I ever come in contact with the Covid virus.

Yes. Interestingly last year the decision was made to begin the Ritux infusions when I was back in hospital for second time with my platelet levels not responding to prednisone. There were of course the papers that had to be signed giving consent because of the potential rare reactions that can come from the infusions. There was no mention of Covid or the impact potentially of a suppressed immune system during a pandemic. Of course they may have felt there was no choice since my level was around 3. There were no warnings given by anyone in regards to being extra extra cautious. This was all within the first month of my diagnosis so I was still too overwhelmed to be able to process everything or to have been able to adequately research ITP and its various treatments.

In the end I dont think it would have mattered much since I am not an overly cautious individual in general. It doesnt come naturally to me lol. I have an 80 year old aunt who has undergone 8 Ritux infusions over the past 6 months as a treatment for Lymphoma. She has more energy than me as is still going to exercise classes IN FLORIDA!!. I had to remind her that with her compromised immune system maybe she should consider a Peloton lol

I usually get colds/viruses in the winter but when I had Rituxin treatment, I didn't have any colds, flu during that time, so I didn't notice any immune suppression. Another odd thing when I was on Rituxin, water tasted so delicious, so refreshing. Rituxin did something to affect my sense of taste but only for water. Then when the 6 mos was over my platelets fell and water tasted ordinary again.

I just got emails from a local hospital (California) and Safeway pharmacy that the booster is available. You don't need a doctor's approval or any proof of immune suppression - just come in with your CDC vaccine card and get the third dose. I like the easy access. For me, I think its too early to get a third dose. I have multiple auto-immune disorders but am not on drugs that suppress my immune system. My friend's (with psoriatic arthritis) doctor disagrees with that thinking. She says the auto-immune disorder itself will inhibit a person's response to the vaccine. I'm not sure if thats true. Anyway, very likely I will eventually be getting a third dose. Let us know how you do with yours Gozorakgogo.

Here is an interesting article about the vaccine and people with auto-immune disorders. Towards the bottom they talk about people who were on rituxin, some developed antibodies from the vaccine but many didn't. I guess it would be good to get antibodies checked after vaccination. Be well everyone!
www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210526/immune-disorders-may-dampen-covid-19-vaccine-response

Got my third dose of Pfizer at 9 am this morning(made sure I went as soon as they opened up the pharmacy so no wait). No issues as of yet. My arm isnt even sore. Was very easy. Walked into Walgreens, filled out some paperwork, and within 10 minutes I was done. Did my "mandatory" 10 minute wait walking around the drug store buying some cat food for Sparky, some Monster Energy and smokes for me, and ink for my printer(which seems to be in short supply these days I guess with so many people working from home and printing reports?)

Good to hear that it was so easy gozorakgogo. I am curious if you had side effects from your first two doses and how this third dose compares.

After about 8-12 hours, I had myalgia and slight headache, feeling hot and chilled but no measurable fever from my second dose of Moderna. That feeling of unwellness lasted 24 hours. First dose didn't affect me much. I will be watching to see if people get stronger side effects from the third dose or not. Probably everyone will be different as is the case in most things.

I dont recall having any side effects from the first two. I got my jab today around 12 hours ago(its almost 9 pm here now) and I have slight arm soreness at the site of the injection and I do feel a little warm and flush but other than that no headache or anything else. Ive been up for like 32 hours so however tired and fatigued I am at the moment is probably due to that as well as the continuing ITP fatigue which while there is not as bad as it was a year ago.

Wow - all these questions on the vaccine!

I will get the booster as soon as they tell me I can - aside from ITP I have a few other autoimmune disorders.

I haven't heard anything about boosters here in Canada yet. But if it is recommended, I will probably get it.

Got 2 doses of Moderna at beginning of 2021. Platelets dropped 20 points. They have not come back up. I had Prednisone in me and I have suppressed IgA. I had a spike protein antigen test. Looks like I got about 30% of the protection that people get. I am considering a booster. But I have several other autoimmune diseases beyond platelets. After the 2 Moderna shots, my Reynaud's and Arthritis flared. That, on top of the platelet drop, makes me wonder about the risk of a booster. My hope would be to get my protection up as I am off prednisone now. But I'd hate to live through another flare and platelet drop. Although, Covid would be worse. Maybe I have to get the shot? 

I received my third dose of Moderna 4 days ago. Labs were done the day before with a platelet count of 29. My side effects were about the same as the second dose, except that I took Tylenol for the second dose and this time I didn't take anything. I slept for 24hrs with fever 100-101, mild headache, body aches/myalgia, fatigue. I felt okay after 48hrs.

On the third day after the vax, I began to have some symptoms of low platelets, very slight bruising, tiny spots of blood when I blow my nose. Now those symptoms have gone away so I imagine my counts have dropped but its hard to say. My symptoms don't always correlate with counts. I will get labs done in a few days. I will update then.

I didn't realize the Moderna booster had been approved yet - Pfizer yes but not Moderna.

I found out a couple of days ago I am eligible for the booster shot now.  But I think I am going to wait until after the 22nd; that's when we get our flu shots.  The pharmacist said I could get them both now, but I'm not comfortable doing that.  But I will be getting the booster. 

Mel- You are right, Moderna is not approved for people over 65 but is approved for immunocompromised. I am diagnosed with several auto-immune disorders along with ITP- rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, Sjogrens and am on medication for those disorders. Even with all that, I still don't fit the criteria exactly as I'm not severely immunocompromised. I actually would have rather waited until Dec- Jan when Moderna is approved. But I have had two doctors tell me to get the booster, one doctor wrote into my medical record "Immunocompromised due to drug therapy" so other doctors are seeing that. Plus its been 8 mos since my second dose, I had some time off work and there is an abundance of vaccines here- every appointment in the county is open, so I decided to go ahead and get it now.

Also I'm seeing in the news that Moderna wants to give a half dose booster. They are having trouble keeping up with the world-wide demand and says the public doesn't need a full dose booster. So the half dose will have to be studied and approved. I imagine that will take some time but seems like a reasonable idea. The advantage may be fewer side effects.

Cindy- Yes, I was told I could get the flu shot along with the Covid booster. No thanks. I don't want to push my immune system into overdrive. I am very pleased that my inflammation symptoms seem to have calmed down 5 days after the vax. I will wait probably 3-4 weeks before I get the flu shot. Stay safe everyone!

Ahhhh - thanks!   I'm glad you got your booster - wish I could get mine.  I can get it but I'd like my HMO to give it to me and I've heard nothing yet from them.   I think all of us with more than 1 auto-immune disorder/disease should be getting the booster and soon!   

I got my flu shot 2 weeks ago in anticipation of the Pfizer booster being approved - I've read it's fine to get both at the same time but I'd just as soon not have my immune system working on too many things at once.  

So I got labs done today and surprise- my counts did NOT drop from the booster vaccine!
Last week I got labs and platelets were 29. Next day got the Moderna booster. 7 days later (today) got labs and count was 28.

I'm so glad because I didn't want my Nplate dose to be increased. But I'm surprised because my counts fell after the second vax.? Seems odd that my platelets stayed stable after the first and the third vaccine. ?! Typical ITP, unpredictable.

Edward Jacob- I'm wondering if you got the booster? Like you said, Covid is so bad and so dangerous esp for all of us with auto-immune issues. I agree that now would be a good time to get the booster while you are off prednisone. Perhaps the booster would push your immunity up to the 95%?- thats what the studies say. I've also been concerned that the booster would drop my platelets. My plan was if my platelets fell I would wait a couple weeks- just tolerate the low numbers, then take some prednisone to calm down my immune reaction and bring my platelet counts up.