Third vaccine to boost antibodies against COVID infection?

I had my third shot yesterday evening at Walgreens. I believe the recommendation is to get what you had before so I got another Pfizer. I am so glad to have that behind me.

Today my arm is a bit sore and I have a mild headache, but that's all. I still have heard nothing from Mass General about the third shot but since they said they would approve it when it was approved by the CDC I figured it was fine to get it.
JK

I am a one year post kidney transplant patient on Cellcept and Tacronlimis. I had my third dose of Moderna one month ago. I stll have no detectable antibodies. Currently, I think it's about a 50% chance of us developing antibodies with the third dose. Has anyone been reading about taking Regeneron infusions proactively under compassionate use when the third or fourth dose still does not work? I am curious what your doctor thinks. I am going to ask my doctor next week. Not sure if there are any JH clinical trials on that concept yet?

Did I jump the booster? I heard Dr Poland and the CDC recommend getting the booster for transplant patients. so I went to the local Walgreens and got one on 8/16. Then i realize that there is an 8 month timeframe. My last second booster was on 4/20/21. Yikes!!

@pinkpam
If you are a transplant patient, or in one of the recently approved for 3rd dose, then you are correct in getting the 3rd dose now. As a transplant patient on immunosuppressant meds, your protection from doses 1 and 2 were, according to research, not providing you with the antibodies to give protection from the Covid19 virus. So take a deep breath and relax. You did the right thing!
The 8 month timeline is being discussed for the general high risk population.

I got mine on Monday and I have sent a copy of my Record card to my transplant nurse for my files. I will also be telling my PCP. Have you notified transplant team so that it is in your records?
Remember - Transplant patients, must continue to wear masks, practice safe distancing, and wash hands.

I got mine on Saturday. No problems. My arm was a little sore the next day and a little tired. I drink 64 oz of water and other fluids each day.

OOOH good! Thank You so much for your time Rosemary - I felt like a slug on Monday night with chills and headache. Today much better. I will be visiting Rochester in Oct. so i wanted to be extra protected. OOH yes always doing the mask, wash and distancing.. 23yr post Kidney - Have a beautiful day 🙂

I will check with my Oncologist before I get one, I think. lol Glad that you had mild symptoms.

Just an update. I finally heard from Mass General this morning advising patients with certain medical conditions to get the third shot. Better late than never.

Who needs a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines?

People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised should get another dose. These are people who:

Are actively being treated for cancer
Have received a solid organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Have received CAR-T cell therapy
Have received a stem cell transplant within in the last 2 years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system after a stem cell transplant
Have moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
Have advanced or untreated HIV infection (i.e., a CD4 count of less than 200)
Are taking high-dose corticosteroids (i.e., the equivalent of 20 or more milligrams of Prednisone a day)
Are getting other drugs that may suppress the immune response (i.e., tumor-necrosis blockers or other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory)

It also said:
Do I have to get the same vaccine I got for the first two doses? You should get the same vaccine for your third dose as you have for the first two. But if it is not available, you can get the other vaccine. This means that if you got Pfizer for your first two doses, and it is not available, you can get Moderna for the third dose. However, whether you got Pfizer or Moderna, you should not get Johnson & Johnson as a third dose. Also, you should not get more than three doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

I'm very glad that I went ahead on Monday and got my third dose. Even though I will still be masking, etc., I will feel a little bit safer after the two-week waiting period is over. I think this will be as safe we can get, ever or at least for a very long time. Reaching "herd immunity" is not going to happen, unfortunately. There are a lot of businesses that are still at risk due to Covid and I think that is true for the hospitality industry. I know many people who will not be dining inside of restaurants when the weather gets too cool to dine outside. Restaurants are one of the riskiest environments there is.
JK

I also received a notice from MGH. I am not happy that lung cancer patients have been left out. Have written to my oncologist a surgeon asking them if they were me, despite CDC recommendations, what they would do!

I have a question about your comment in regard to your health insurance approving your vaccine. My understanding is that the vaccine is free to anyone. Why would someone need their insurance company to approve it? I didn’t need any kind of approval. I just walked into Walgreens, handed them my vaccination card and told them I needed the third shot.