COVID-19 vaccination and antirheumatic therapy.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33710296.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1093/rheumatology/keab223 and PMC identifier 7989162.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination will be the largest vaccination programme in the history of the NHS. Patients on immunosuppressive therapy will be among the earliest to be vaccinated. Some evidence indicates immunosuppressive therapy inhibits humoral response to the influenza, pneumococcal and hepatitis B vaccines. The degree to which this will translate to impaired COVID-19 vaccine responses is unclear. Other evidence suggests withholding MTX for 2 weeks post-vaccination may improve responses. Rituximab has been shown to impair humoral responses for 6 months or longer post-administration. Decisions on withholding or interrupting immunosuppressive therapy around COVID-19 vaccination will need to be made prior to the availability of data on specific COVID-19 vaccine response in these patients. With this in mind, this article outlines the existing data on the effect of antirheumatic therapy on vaccine responses in patients with inflammatory arthritis and formulates a possible pragmatic management strategy for COVID-19 vaccination.
Medical subject headings
- Antirheumatic Agents
- COVID-19
- COVID-19 Vaccines
- Pandemics
- SARS-CoV-2
- Vaccination