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. 2022 Jul;8(2):e002322.
doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002322.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccine safety in adolescents with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases and adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: data from the EULAR COVAX physician-reported registry

Saskia Lawson-Tovey  1   2 , Pedro M Machado  3   4 , Anja Strangfeld  5 , Elsa Mateus  6   7 , Laure Gossec  8   9 , Loreto Carmona  10 , Bernd Raffeiner  11 , Inita Bulina  12   13 , Daniel Clemente  14 , Julija Zepa  13   15 , Ana M Rodrigues  16   17 , Xavier Mariette  18 , Kimme L Hyrich  19   20 ; EULAR COVAX
Collaborators, Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 vaccine safety in adolescents with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases and adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: data from the EULAR COVAX physician-reported registry

Saskia Lawson-Tovey et al. RMD Open. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Background: There is a lack of data on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination safety in children and young people (CYP) with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). Current vaccination guidance is based on data from adults with RMDs or CYP without RMDs.

Objectives: To describe the safety of SARS-COV-2 vaccination in adolescents with inflammatory RMDs and adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods: We described patient characteristics, flares and adverse events (AEs) in adolescent cases under 18 with inflammatory RMDs and adult cases aged 18 or above with JIA submitted to the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology COVAX registry.

Results: A total of 110 cases were reported to the registry. Thirty-six adolescent cases were reported from four countries, most with JIA (42%). Over half (56%) reported early reactogenic-like AEs. One mild polyarthralgia flare and one serious AE of special interest (malaise) were reported. No CYP reported SARS-CoV-2 infection postvaccination.Seventy-four adult JIA cases were reported from 11 countries. Almost two-thirds (62%) reported early reactogenic-like AEs and two flares were reported (mild polyarthralgia and moderate uveitis). No serious AEs of special interest were reported among adults with JIA. Three female patients aged 20-30 years were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 postvaccination; all fully recovered.

Conclusions: This is an important contribution to research on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine safety in adolescents with RMDs and adults with JIA. It is important to note the low frequency of disease flares, serious AEs and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection seen in both populations, although the dataset is limited by its size.

Keywords: Arthritis, Juvenile; COVID-19; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: SL-T and BR have nothing to disclose. PMM reports consulting/speaker’s fees from Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Orphazyme, Pfizer, Roche and UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript, and is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). AS reports personal fees from lectures for AbbVie, MSD, Roche, BMS, and Pfizer. EM reports LPCDR received support for specific activities: grants from Abbvie, Novartis, Janssen-Cilag, Lilly Portugal, Sanofi, Grünenthal S.A., MSD, Celgene, Medac, Pharmakern, GAfPA; grants and non-financial support from Pfizer; non-financial support from Grünenthal, outside the submitted work. LG reports Amgen, Galapagos, Lilly, Pfizer, Sandoz; consulting fees: AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celltrion, Galapagos, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi-Aventis, UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript. LC reports fees or personal grants from any laboratory, but her institute works by contract for laboratories among other institutions, such as Abbvie Spain, Eisai, Gebro Pharma, Merck Sharp & Dohme España, S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica, Pfizer, Roche Farma, Sanofi Aventis, Astellas Pharma, Actelion Pharmaceuticals España, Grünenthal, and UCB Pharma. IB reports speaker fees from AbbVie, Pfizer, Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, all unrelated to this manuscript. DC reports speakers fees from Novartis, GSK, all unrelated to this manuscript. JZ reports speaker fees from Abbvie, Novartis, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, all unrelated to this manuscript. AR reports research grants and consultant fees from Amgen and Pfizer, all unrelated to this manuscript. KLH reports non-personal speaker’s fees from Abbvie and grant income from BMS, UCB, and Pfizer, all unrelated to this manuscript, and is supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. XM is an Associate Editor for this journal.

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