COVID-19 vaccine was found to be safe and well tolerated in patients with rheumatic diseases in an analysis of data from a large European registry.

Overall, 1,519 patients were recruited in the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) COVID-19 Vaccination Registry. Investigators noted that severe adverse events were extremely rare - reported in just two patients. Of these events, one was a case of giant cell arteritis in a patient with osteoarthritis, which resolved, and the second was a case of hemiparesis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus/systemic sclerosis overlap syndrome. 

Around 78% of the vaccine recipients received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 16% were administered the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5% received the Moderna vaccine, and the remaining were other/unknown. A COVID-19 diagnosis following receipt of the vaccine was reported in 1% of the participants. Disease flares were noted in 5%, and were severe in 1.2%. The findings were presented at the EULAR virtual congress… (Medpage Today)