Dr. Abid, a clinician-scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, outlined the heightened risks COVID-19 poses for immunocompromised patients with blood cancer. Variants such as Omicron reduce vaccine effectiveness, with CAR T-cell and transplant recipients showing particularly low seroconversion rates.
Blood cancer patients face a 25% mortality risk from COVID-19, compared with 2% in the general population, according to Dr. Abid, who stressed the need for novel monoclonal antibody platforms that can keep pace with viral variants and called for collaboration between clinicians and policymakers to safeguard vulnerable patients.
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