Anne-Laure Couderc, Laetitia Ninove, Emilie Nouguerède, Dominique Rey, Marina Rebroin, Aurélie Daumas, Pascale Tomasini, Laurent Greillier, Sebastien Salas, Florence Duffaud, Laetitia Dahan, Muriel Duluc, Marie-Eve Garcia, Johan Pluvy, Solène Chaléat, Laure Farnault, Geoffroy Venton, Toscane Fourié, Elif Nurtop, Xavier de Lamballerie, Patrick Villani, Remi Charrel, Florian Correard, Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Ethique et Santé (ADES), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-EFS ALPES MEDITERRANEE-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Unité des Virus Emergents (UVE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection (IHU Marseille), Unité de coordination en oncogériatrie (UCOG Paca ouest), Centre recherche en CardioVasculaire et Nutrition = Center for CardioVascular and Nutrition research (C2VN), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Multidisciplinary Oncology and Therapeutic Innovations Unit, Hôpital Nord [CHU - APHM], Méthodes computationnelles pour la prise en charge thérapeutique en oncologie : Optimisation des stratégies par modélisation mécaniste et statistique (COMPO), Inria Sophia Antipolis - Méditerranée (CRISAM), Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Service d’Oncologie Médicale [Hôpital de la Timone - APHM], Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM)- Hôpital de la Timone [CHU - APHM] (TIMONE), Hôpital de la Timone [CHU - APHM] (TIMONE), AP-HP - Hôpital Bichat - Claude Bernard [Paris], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP), CHU Marseille, Theories and Approaches of Genomic Complexity (TAGC), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), and Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM)-Hôpital de la Timone [CHU - APHM] (TIMONE)
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign began in December 2020, in France, and primarily targeted the oldest people. Our study aimed to determine the level of acceptance of vaccination in a population of older patients with cancer.From January 2021, we offered vaccination with the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine to all patients 70 years and older referred to our geriatric oncology center in Marseille University Hospital (AP-HM) for geriatric assessment before initiation of an oncological treatment. Objectives were to evaluate acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination and to assess vaccine safety, reactogenicity, and efficacy two months after the first dose.Between January 18, 2021 and May 7, 2021, 150 older patients with cancer were offered vaccination after a geriatric assessment. The majority were men (61.3%), with a mean age of 81 years. The two most frequent primary tumors were digestive (29.4%) and thoracic (18%). The vaccine acceptance rate was 82.6% and the complete vaccination rate (2 doses) reached 75.3%. Among the vaccinated patients, 15.9% reported mild side effects after the first dose and 23.4% after the second dose, mostly arm pain and fatigue. COVID-19 cases were observed in 5.1% of vaccinated patients compared with 16.7% in unvaccinated patients. Of the 22 vaccinated patients who agreed to have their serum tested, 15 had antibodies against the spike protein at day 21 after the first dose.Our study showed a high acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination, with good tolerance in this frail population. These results highlight the benefits of organizing vaccination campaigns at the very beginning of oncological management in older patients.This study was registered May 23, 2019 in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03960593).