Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients with Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases

The main purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of COVID-19 vaccine side effects in patients with rheumatic diseases and to examine any potential associations with medications, disease type, or comorbidities.

A multicentre cross-sectional study from rheumatology units in different hospitals in Iraq was carried out between 8^th of August 2021 and 4th of August 2022. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they have a rheumatic disease and have taken one or more doses of any COVID-19 vaccine.

A total of 661 (57.8% female, mean age 46.51± 12.97 years) patients with rheumatic illnesses who received the "COVID-19" vaccination were included in this study. Rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent diagnostic group. The Pfizer vaccine was given to the majority of patients (74.6%), followed by Sinopharm (16.2%), and AstraZeneca (9.2%). Side effects were detected in 661(100%) and 528 (100%) patients following the first and second vaccination doses, respectively; among which the most frequent were injection site pain in 57.8% following the first dose and 47.6% after the second dose, followed by fatigue and fever. According to multivariate logistic regression models, age (B=-0.204, p = 0.000), had a significantly inverse correlation coefficient with the experience of greater side effects. Rheumatic disease flares reported in 9.9%, 10.3%, and 8.2% of patients who received the Pfizer, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca vaccines, respectively.

The "COVID-19" vaccination has a reassuring safety profile with no greater risk of adverse events in any specific illness or pharmacological therapy.