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. 2024 Dec;44(12):2853-2861.
doi: 10.1007/s00296-024-05742-x. Epub 2024 Nov 6.

COVID-19 vaccination-related delayed adverse events among people with rheumatoid arthritis: results from the international COVAD survey

Mrinalini Dey  1 , Bohdana Doskaliuk  2 , Ioannis Parodis  3   4 , Julius Lindblom  3 , Chris Wincup  5 , Mrudula Joshi  6 , Dzifa Dey  7 , Wanruchada Katchamart  8 , Esha Kadam  9 , Parikshit Sen  10 , Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo  11 , Arvind Nune  12 , Phonpen Akarawatcharangura Goo  13 , Nelly Ziade  14   15 , Yi Ming Chen  16   17 , Lisa S Traboco  18 , Carlos Enrique Toro Gutiérrez  19 , Binit Vaidya  20 , Vikas Agarwal #  21 , Latika Gupta  22   23 , Elena Nikiphorou #  24   25 ; COVAD Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

COVID-19 vaccination-related delayed adverse events among people with rheumatoid arthritis: results from the international COVAD survey

Mrinalini Dey et al. Rheumatol Int. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

This study aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccination-related AEs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in the COVID-19 Vaccination in Autoimmune Diseases (COVAD)-2 study. An online international cross-sectional survey captured self-reported data on COVID-19 vaccination-related adverse events (AEs) in people with RA, autoimmune diseases (AIDs; rheumatic [r] and non-rheumatic [nr]) and healthy controls (HCs). The survey was circulated by the COVAD study group, comprising 157 collaborators across 106 countries, from February to June 2022. Delayed AEs among RA were compared with other rAIDs, nrAIDs and HCs using multivariable binary regression. A total of 7203 participants were included (1423 [19.7%] RA, 2620 [36.4%] rAIDs, 426 [5.9%] nrAIDs, 2734 [38%] HCs), with 75% female. Compared to HCs, individuals with RA reported higher overall major AEs [OR 1.3 (1.0-1.7)], and an increased number of several minor AEs. Compared to nrAIDs, people with RA had several increased reported minor AEs including myalgia and joint pain. People with active RA had increased major AEs [OR 1.8 (1.1-3.0)] and hospitalisation [OR 4.1 (1.3 - 13.3)] compared to inactive RA. RA patients without autoimmune comorbidities had significantly fewer major and minor AEs than those with other rAIDs. A decreased incidence of hospitalisation was seen in patients taking methotrexate or TNF inhibitors compared to patients not taking these medications. COVID-19 vaccination is associated with minimal to no risks of delayed AEs in patients with RA compared to HCs, and fewer compared to other rAIDs. Active RA and presence of co-existing rAIDs were associated with an increased risk of delayed AEs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Rheumatoid arthritis; Survey; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: EN has received speaker honoraria/participated in advisory boards for Celltrion, Pfizer, Sanofi, Gilead, Galapagos, AbbVie, and Lilly, and holds research grants from Pfizer and Lilly. IP has received research funding and/or honoraria from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Elli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Novartis and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG. NZ has received speaker fees, advisory board fees, and research grants from Pfizer, Roche, Abbvie, Eli Lilly, NewBridge, Sanofi-Aventis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, and Pierre Fabre; none are related to this manuscript. The rest of the authors have no conflict of interest relevant to this manuscript. Ethical approval: Ethical approval was obtained from Institutional Ethics Committee of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, 226014. Ethics Approval Number and Date: IEC Code: 2021-143-IP-87 EXP-39-April 2021. Informed consent: All participants consented electronically. The survey utilised in this study adhered to the latest recommendations for survey drafting and reporting.

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