Immunogenicity and safety of CoronaVac vaccine in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has progressed rapidly worldwide, reaching lethality of up to 20% in different regions (Garcia LF, 2020). More severe cases were observed in elderly patients with comorbidities, particularly in those with chronic cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, diabetes and hypertension (Garcia LF, 2020; Emmi G, 2020). SARS-Cov-2 infection raised a particular concern in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) (Garcia LF, 2020; Emmi G, 2020). Due to chronic inflammatory autoimmune dysregulation and regular use of immunosuppressive drugs (Fernandez-Ruiz R, 2020), these patients were considered at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and potentially worse prognosis (Fernandez-Ruiz R, 2020). Vaccine efficacy studies are needed to verify the immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccine in immunosuppressed patients with rheumatologic disease. In addition, it is relevant to evaluate the safety of the vaccine in these populations, as well as the possibility of reactivation of the rheumatologic disease itself. (AU)