medwireNews: The Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA) has developed recommendations on COVID-19 vaccination in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs).
“This guideline is intended for individuals aged 16 years and older with ARDs,” irrespective of whether they are on immunomodulatory therapy, say Glen Hazlewood (University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and co-authors.
The recommendations, published in The Journal of Rheumatology, were developed using the GRADE approach by a multidisciplinary panel including rheumatologists, infectious disease physicians, methodologists, and patient representatives.
Based on evidence for the four COVID-19 vaccines approved in Canada in March 2021 – Pfizer–BioNTech (BNT162b2), Moderna (mRNA-1273), Oxford–AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019), and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (JNJ-78436735) vaccine – the panel made a unanimous recommendation that the potential benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the potential harms in people with ARDs. The authors note that this recommendation was graded as conditional due to “uncertainty about the effects in the population of interest.”
Hazlewood and team also highlight some considerations for people taking certain medications, including rituximab and other DMARDs.
They note that their guidance “will be updated in a living fashion over time as new evidence [emerges] and new vaccines are approved.”
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2021 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group
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