Early experience of COVID-19 vaccination in adults with systemic rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey
Sebastian Eduardo Sattui
,
Jean Liew
,
Kevin Kennedy
,
Emily Sirotich
,
Michael Putman
,
Tarin Moni
,
Akpabio Akpabio
,
Deshiré Alpízar-Rodríguez
,
Francis Berenbaum
(1)
,
Inita Bulina
,
Richard Conway
,
Aman Dev Singh
,
Eimear Duff
,
Karen Durrant
,
Tamer Gheita
,
Catherine Hill
,
Richard Howard
,
Bimba Hoyer
,
Evelyn Hsieh
,
Lina El Kibbi
,
Adam Kilian
,
Alfred Hyoungju Kim
,
David Liew
,
Chieh Lo
,
Bruce Miller
,
Serena Mingolla
,
Michal Nudel
,
Candace Palmerlee
,
Jasvinder Singh
,
Namrata Singh
,
Manuel Francisco Ugarte-Gil
,
John Wallace
,
Kristen Young
,
Suleman Bhana
,
Wendy Costello
,
Rebecca Grainger
,
Pedro Machado
,
Philip Robinson
,
Paul Sufka
,
Zachary Wallace
,
Jinoos Yazdany
,
Carly Harrison
,
Maggie Larché
,
Mitchell Levine
,
Gary Foster
,
Lehana Thabane
,
Lisa Rider
,
Jonathan Hausmann
,
Julia Simard
,
Jeffrey Sparks
Sebastian Eduardo Sattui
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 816426
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3945-6828
Jean Liew
- Function : Author
Kevin Kennedy
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228480
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8230-091X
Emily Sirotich
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1220110
- ORCID : 0000-0002-7087-8543
Michael Putman
- Function : Author
Tarin Moni
- Function : Author
Akpabio Akpabio
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228481
- ORCID : 0000-0002-4920-6494
Deshiré Alpízar-Rodríguez
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228482
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6930-0517
Francis Berenbaum
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 15361
- IdHAL : francis-berenbaum
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8252-7815
- IdRef : 089286774
Inita Bulina
- Function : Author
Richard Conway
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 791575
- ORCID : 0000-0003-2538-3362
Aman Dev Singh
- Function : Author
Eimear Duff
- Function : Author
Karen Durrant
- Function : Author
Tamer Gheita
- Function : Author
Catherine Hill
- Function : Author
Richard Howard
- Function : Author
Bimba Hoyer
- Function : Author
Evelyn Hsieh
- Function : Author
Lina El Kibbi
- Function : Author
Adam Kilian
- Function : Author
Alfred Hyoungju Kim
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228379
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4074-0516
David Liew
- Function : Author
Chieh Lo
- Function : Author
Bruce Miller
- Function : Author
Serena Mingolla
- Function : Author
Michal Nudel
- Function : Author
Candace Palmerlee
- Function : Author
Jasvinder Singh
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228483
- ORCID : 0000-0003-3485-0006
Namrata Singh
- Function : Author
Manuel Francisco Ugarte-Gil
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 816429
- ORCID : 0000-0003-1728-1999
John Wallace
- Function : Author
Kristen Young
- Function : Author
Suleman Bhana
- Function : Author
Wendy Costello
- Function : Author
Rebecca Grainger
- Function : Author
Pedro Machado
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 770481
- ORCID : 0000-0002-8411-7972
Philip Robinson
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1220112
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3156-3418
Paul Sufka
- Function : Author
Zachary Wallace
- Function : Author
Jinoos Yazdany
- Function : Author
Carly Harrison
- Function : Author
Maggie Larché
- Function : Author
Mitchell Levine
- Function : Author
Gary Foster
- Function : Author
Lehana Thabane
- Function : Author
Lisa Rider
- Function : Author
Jonathan Hausmann
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1220111
- ORCID : 0000-0003-0786-8788
Julia Simard
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1228484
- ORCID : 0000-0001-5735-9856
Jeffrey Sparks
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 805476
- ORCID : 0000-0002-5556-4618
Abstract
Background We describe the early experiences of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods From 2 April to 30 April 2021, we conducted an online, international survey of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination. We collected patient-reported data on clinician communication, beliefs and intent about discontinuing disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around the time of vaccination, and patient-reported adverse events after vaccination. Results We analysed 2860 adults with systemic rheumatic diseases who received COVID-19 vaccination (mean age 55.3 years, 86.7% female, 86.3% white). Types of COVID-19 vaccines were Pfizer-BioNTech (53.2%), Oxford/AstraZeneca (22.6%), Moderna (21.3%), Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (1.7%) and others (1.2%). The most common rheumatic disease was rheumatoid arthritis (42.3%), and 81.2% of respondents were on a DMARD. The majority (81.9%) reported communicating with clinicians about vaccination. Most (66.9%) were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy, although many (44.3%) were concerned about rheumatic disease flares. After vaccination, the most reported patient-reported adverse events were fatigue/somnolence (33.4%), headache (27.7%), muscle/joint pains (22.8%) and fever/chills (19.9%). Rheumatic disease flares that required medication changes occurred in 4.6%. Conclusion Among adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination, patient-reported adverse events were typical of those reported in the general population. Most patients were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy. The relatively low frequency of rheumatic disease flare requiring medications was reassuring.