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@johnbishop

Hello @golfbarmie, Thanks for the private message. I thought I would answer it in the discussion on PMR and Corona Virus (COVID-19) vaccine so that you could connect with other members who have similar questions. You mentioned your are searching for answers because you are currently on a low dose of prednisone. For your 1st Moderna vaccine you were on 3mg and had a big flare and jumped up to 7.5. Then came 2nd Moderna, no flare and now you are on 6mg, dropping to 5mg soon. Your question is are you protected from COVID given that you may be immunocompromised. You wanted to know how we can tell and that you are a healthy 75 year old male and feel fine.

Since you have had both Moderna vaccines, if it were me, I personally would feel that I've done all I can to protect myself from COVID and I would feel that I could safely visit with my grandchildren as you mentioned it is important for you to see them. @sueinmn and others may also have some thoughts or information that may be helpful for you to answer your question on being protected from COVID.

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Replies to "Hello @golfbarmie, Thanks for the private message. I thought I would answer it in the discussion..."

I was on 10mg of prednisone when I hd my Pfizer shots in March. I couple of weeks ago, I had an antibodies test, which indicated few antibodies. Now, I need a third shot and am waiting for the third shot to be approved. My prednisone is down to 8mg.

Just sharing this - a close friend is an infectious disease specialist. He's in his late 60s, no autoimmune disorder and not taking an immunosuppressant drugs, like Prednisone. He told me he's not going to eat at any indoor restaurants until the Delta variant calms down. He advised me to eat outdoors in restaurant venues and not have contact with people who have not been vaccinated. Currently, in our state there's an uptick in COVID cases of the unvaccinated, particularly children. We do not know, at this point, if being on prednisone lessens the efficacy of the vaccines, but it may be wise to assume it does. Currently some studies are underway - of specific patient groups with autoimmune disorders on immunosuppressant drugs to see if they develop neutralizing antibodies after 2 doses and if they don’t whether a 3rd booster would help. Not a bad idea to be cautious and consider how you can meet with your grandchildren safely, particularly if they have not been vaccinated. All the best.