COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cancer: Results from survey based observational study.

e18897 Background: COVID‐19 (C19) disproportionately affects those with comorbid medical conditions, leading to significantly higher mortality rate. Cancer(ca) is a well-studied risk factor for developing severe C19 disease. However, ca patients (pts) were largely excluded from clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of 3 FDA-approved C19 vaccines (vax). We aim to study this highly vulnerable pts’ behavior and outcomes regarding C19 vax. Methods: A prospective and observational single center study. Adult ca pts (18-89 years) seen in clinics from Nov 2021-Sept 2022 were randomly interviewed using telephone surveys after a verbal consent. Type of ca and therapy data were collected from pts’ medical records. The survey included C19 disease status, vax status positive (vax+) or negative (vax-), reason for vax status, s.e, impact on ca Rx or ca progression. Our primary objectives were to assess the rate of vaccination in the adult ca pts and identify barriers to vaccination. Secondary objectives were determining factors associated with vax acceptance vs. hesitancy, identifying s.e of C19 vax, and effect of C19 vax on clinical outcomes in ca pts. Results: N = 170 [Males 82 (48.2%) and females 88 (51.8%)]. The median age was 65 years. Among 170 pts, 58.2% had solid malignancy, 40% had hematologic malignancy, and 1.8% had both solid and hematologic malignancy. Refer to Table 1 for outcomes data. Overall, 146 (85.9%) pts received C19 vax. C19 infection positive (C19+) in 49 (28.8%) pts. Of them 9 (18.4%) pts required hospitalization. The vax rate of prior C19+ pts was 73.5% compared to 90.9% in C19 infection negative (C19-) pts (p = 0.0013). Demographic factors were not significantly associated with vaccine uptake. A total of 50% pts developed s.e from vax. However only one patient (0.68%) reported a delay in ca treatment due to C19 vax and believed that vax affected the ca outcome. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that majority of the ca pts were vaccinated against C19 and tolerated it well, with minimal side effects. Prior C19 infection significantly decreased vax uptake. Vaccination did not have notable adverse effect on ca outcomes. Oncologists should discuss the importance of C19 vax in the context of ca to avoid misconceptions and hesitancy. Clinical trial information: NCT04953065 . [Table: see text]