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The COVID‐19 pandemic continues to pose challenges to the treatment of hemato‐oncology patients. Emergence of COVID‐19 variants, availability of vaccine boosters and antiviral treatments could impact their outcome. We retrospectively studied patients with hematologic malignancies and confirmed COVID‐19 during the Omicron outbreak. Of 116 evaluated patients, 16% developed severe or critical COVID‐19. Diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was significantly associated with severe COVID‐19 (p = 0.01). The vaccine effectiveness was related to the timing of the vaccine, with patients who received a mRNA vaccine within 7–90 days prior to COVID‐19 being less likely to develop severe disease compared to all other patients (p = 0.019). There was no correlation between disease severity and antiviral therapies. Importantly, 45% of patients undergoing active hematological treatment had to interrupt their treatment due to COVID‐19. In conclusion, patients with hematologic malignancies are at a considerable risk for severe COVID‐19 during the Omicron outbreak, with patients with CLL being the most vulnerable. mRNA vaccines have the potential to protect hematological patients from severe COVID‐19 if administered within the previous 3 months. Hematological treatment interruption is a frequent adverse outcome of COVID‐19 infection. This study investigated the impact of COVID‐19 on patients with hematologic malignancies during the Omicron outbreak. Of the 116 patients evaluated, 16% developed severe or critical COVID‐19. chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was found to be significantly associated with severe COVID‐19, while mRNA vaccines administered within 7–90 days prior to COVID‐19 reduced the likelihood of severe disease. Additionally, 45% of patients undergoing active hematological treatment had to interrupt their treatment due to COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a growing interest in hospital‐at‐home programmes, including home transfusion services. We studied whether the pandemic had influenced patients' perception of home transfusions. Materials and Methods: We conducted a survey among haematology patients who receive transfusions in the hospital day care facility. Patients were asked about the burden of day care transfusions and whether they would prefer receiving home transfusions. The survey was conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and the results were compared with a survey performed before the pandemic (baseline). Results: Sixty patients were included in the COVID‐19 cohort and 31 patients in the baseline cohort. There was a non‐significant decrease in the proportion of patients willing to receive home transfusions during the pandemic compared with baseline (35% vs. 47%, respectively, p = 0.28). More patients in the COVID‐19 cohort were afraid to receive home transfusions (60% compared with 48% at baseline, p = 0.29), and fewer patients believed that hospital transfusion impaired their quality of life (19% compared with 36% at baseline, p = 0.09). These unexpected results may be partly attributed to the shorter time needed to arrive at the hospital during the pandemic and a greater fear of having transfusion‐related adverse effects at home. Conclusions: Our results show that the pandemic did not increase the willingness of patients to receive home transfusions, with a non‐significant drift towards refusal of home transfusions. Patients' opinions should be taken into consideration when planning for future home transfusion services, by creating a comprehensive approach to patients' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]