I am a 19 year survivor so had years between SCT’s and being vaccinated and yes it was during treatment.

In my opinion, I am not sure that there an be a hard number on the effectiveness of the vaccines from one person to another. Each MM patient's B and T cells will obviously produce varying degrees antibodies depending on how beaten up they are. I, for example had tests done after vaccinations, that showed that I had produced the COVID antibodies. The unanswewed question remains how much antibodies. Because of the unknowns, I continue to MASK UP....

Transcript:
Katherine:

Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for patients with myeloma?

Dr. Richter:

Absolutely, 100 percent yes. Everybody with myeloma should absolutely get the vaccine. What’s a little more complicated is the timing of it. So, one is in relation to stem cell transplant or CAR T-cell therapy. If you’ve had one of these, obviously, consult with your provider. But the general recommendation is to wait about 60 to 90 days after a high-dose therapy like that. And it’s not a question of safety, it’s a question of efficacy. Vaccines are like vegetables, seeds, you have to put them in the ground to grow. If you give yourself a vaccine right after a stem cell transplant, well, your bone marrow is not ready to work with it. It’s like planting a seed in the desert.

You want to make sure your immune system can take in that vaccine and give you immunity. So, you have to wait at least 60 to 90 days. The other question is, what happens if you’re getting continual therapy? And we don’t know the answer for most of these drugs, but one of the things is dexamethasone (Decadron), which is a steroid. Almost all myeloma therapy comes with some steroids. And we like to separate the vaccine from the steroid dose by a little bit if we can. Again, always important to talk with your care team as to risk/benefit about holding certain treatments.

AKKat, Hi stranger! Missed you!
I have the same trouble with the masks! Here’s my little trick: I twist the elastic on both sides of the mask once before I put it on; (you’ll have a loop around your inner ear) that one twist does it for me.
Gail❣️

I was told to still be careful. I still wear a mask when I am out with people that I don't know their vaccination status.