Technically speaking, no MDS or CMML patients should have issues accessing vaccines or anti-COVID19 medication.

If however, you encounter problems, do point any GPs to the document below, which is a new list identifying exactly and precisely who the highest at risk patients are, in terms of COVID-19 infection. MDS, CMML and transplant patients are all listed.

  COVID-19 is not yet over for blood cancer, as you all know. Access to medication and services has been difficult, in the UK, and other countries. The International COVID-19 Blood Cancer Coalition (ICBCC) has updated their website in May – with further supporters for the cause, and a call for action. We urge you […]

A 3rd dose and booster dose (4th dose) of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is being offered to people aged 12 and over who had a severely weakened immune system when they had their first 2 doses. This includes patients who had or have a blood cancer such as MDS or CMML and patients who had […]

Dear MDS patients, At the end of February we sent out a postal letter to all patients without internet access. The postal letter included the latest Covid instructions. We include these instructions here so that you can read them carefully and follow them to increase your protection. We are aware that not all MDS patients […]

Covid-19 treatments for some severely immune-compromised patients are now available. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a ‘Rapid Policy Statement’ regarding ‘Neutralising monoclonal antibodies or antivirals for patients with COVID-19’, for both hospitalised and non-hospitalised settings. The eligibility criteria for these drugs was revised on the 24th December. The most important change […]

Date: 21 December 2021 Overview On 12 December the Prime Minister announced a rapid expansion of the booster programme to seek to mitigate the swiftly-growing wave of Omicron-variant Covid-19 cases. The following day, the NHS confirmed in a letter from Amanda Pritchard (chief executive, NHS England) and Stephen Powis (chief executive, NHS Improvement) to the […]

A global vaccination drive against Covid-19 is underway, with governments, scientific experts, epidemiologists, and voluntary organisations all trying to get as many people immunised as possible. However, vaccine-hesitancy is still being noted among many people. So, the makers of the hit animated series Family Guy have produced a public service announcement and raise awareness about […]

King’s College Hospital has been monitoring 38 MDS patients, as part of the SOAP study. The study has been measuring how effective the vaccines are in blood cancer patients and, specifically in these MDS patients, as initial results shown that COVID-19 vaccines may not be as effective in these patients as in the general population.

The repercussions of the government’s decision to end the shielding programme for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) people are severe and multi-facetted. Most of the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group, such as, for example, blood cancer patients, are still at very high risk of contracting COVID-19, as early research has indicated that the vaccines may not be […]

The National COVID Cancer Survey is evaluating antibody tests in individuals with cancer.  This is Phase 1 of a large nationwide NHS England project. It will evaluate finger prick COVID antibody testing in 10,000 individuals with cancer. Who is currently eligible to enter this trial? If you live in England, have been diagnosed with cancer in […]