New study to examine Covid-19 vaccine response in patients with impaired immune systems

A new UK study will examine the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions such as cancer, inflammatory arthritis and kidney and liver disease. The OCTAVE trial, which is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), is a collaborative research project involving groups in the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Imperial College London and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Patients with significant underlying diseases were generally excluded from Covid-19 vaccine studies to date because of the increased risk of the more severe complications of Covid-19 infection. Researchers will now study how well the Covid-19 vaccines work in people in clinically at-risk patient