Are you recommending the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to your patients with immune mediated inflammatory diseases?  

This is THE question at the moment for providers of patients with immune mediated inflammatory diseases. For now, we are merely extrapolating as patients with active IMIDS were censored from trials (Pfizer & Moderna). Organizations like the American College of Rheumatology are moving quickly to ...

I am recommending either of the mRNA vaccines to my patients with underlying autoimmune diseases, whether they are on or off immunosuppressive absent any data that they are at any greater risk of harm. However, although we recognize that these patients were not included in the phase 3 studies, there...

This is a complex question and an area where at present we have no data. However, extrapolating from what we know about immunogenicity of other vaccines in IMID patients receiving immunosuppression, we can predict that our patients will have reduced responses to COVID vaccines. The most notable drug...

An additional unanswered question is the timing of the vaccination vis-a-vis immunosuppression plans and/or whether to hold DMARD medications in the peri-vaccination period. Given the mechanism of the mRNA vaccines, there is no risk of infection (as with live virus vaccines). However, studies of ot...

25 patients in our clinic who are healthcare workers had been vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine thus far. Mild, limited side effects (myalgias, headaches) in a few; none have flared their IMID. It will be interesting to see if any contract the virus given the high exposure risk from their work envi...