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The English public health body has been accused of giving hundreds of thousands of cancer patients “misleading and dangerous” advice about the level of protection they can expect after receiving their Covid vaccine.
There were calls yesterday for Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, to step in and correct a widely reported statement from Public Health England (PHE) saying that a double vaccination was “very effective in at-risk groups clinical”.
In a furious letter seen by the Observer, Blood Cancer UK chief executive Gemma Peters said she was “deeply troubled” by the press release, which covered the results of a recent survey of responses vaccine. She said her “sure and definitive claims” about the level of protection afforded to the 230,000 UK blood cancer patients could not yet be supported by “a wider body of evidence on the vaccine’s effectiveness in the immunocompromised “.
She warned that insurance risked giving vulnerable patients “false insurance that could lead them to take dangerous risks.” She added: “I cannot tell you how disappointed I am to see the public body charged with protecting the health of people acting in a way that recklessly risks the health of some of the most vulnerable people in our country. .
“In light of all of the above, we believe that Public Health England has a duty to people with blood cancer to publicly withdraw this study as soon as possible and to contact every reporter to whom it was sent. For clarity, we have no issues with the study itself, but with the way it was portrayed in the press and the media coverage that followed.
PHE’s press release, released Friday, said in the headline that the vaccines were “very effective in clinical risk groups.” However, Blood Cancer UK said the study it is based on makes it clear that more research is needed in the immunocompromised group, making it “impossible to justify such a drastic and definitive titer.”
He also says the vaccines offer similar protection to immunocompromised as in other risk groups, but the study on which it is based states, “We are seeing a reduced S antibody response and a reduction in EV. [vaccine efficacy] among the immunocompromised group, although the VE in this group was much higher after the second dose and the confidence intervals overlapped with those of the safe groups.
The press release gives no warning about the sample size, although the study only included a relatively small number of people with compromised immune systems. The charity also said the release treated all immunocompromised people the same in terms of risk, when in reality they face different levels of risk.
It is understood that when initially contacted by the charity, PHE initially said they were on their original press release. “I ask you to change your mind,” says Peters. “I’m concerned that the media coverage of your press release has already damaged important public health messages, but I think a quick retraction can alleviate much of that damage.”
The relative novelty of Covid-19 means that there remains a lot of uncertainty about the effectiveness of vaccines for them. However, it is known that people with blood cancer, who constitute a significant proportion of those defined as immunocompromised, do not have such a strong response to other types of vaccines. Blood Cancer UK had previously campaigned for patients to receive a letter informing them of the risks they face and offering them advice.
PHE has been contacted regarding the concerns, but has not commented. However, a source said the study the publication was based on found that for those who are immunocompromised, the vaccine’s effectiveness after a second dose is 74%, with similar protection to those who are not part of the vaccine. of a group at risk. This drops from 4% after a first dose.
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