SGO Supports Third mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine for Patients with Gynecologic Cancers

August 31, 2021

The Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) supports new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, specifically people receiving cancer treatment for solid tumors or cancers of the blood.

“There is strong data that immunocompromised people may not have achieved an adequate response to initial vaccination and thus would benefit from a third dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine” says SGO President Diane Yamada, MD. “Data show that an additional dose may help to improve the immune response.” For this reason, SGO fully supports a third mRNA vaccine dose in people with gynecologic cancers receiving chemotherapy or undergoing immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapy.

The CDC guidelines are based on an amendment to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) issued on Aug. 13, 2021. The amendment specifies that a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine be administered at least four weeks after a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and that, when available, the third vaccine be from the same manufacturer as the initial two doses. Additional guidance for immunocompromised people vaccinated with the J&J Janssen is expected to be forthcoming from the FDA. As recommendations continue to evolve, SGO will closely monitor the benefit of additional doses to others and provide updated information to members when more evidence becomes available.