EULAR December 2020 View points on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with RMDs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely influenced all aspects of life in 2020. This pandemic also affected patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and impacted the care given to them. With the development of vaccines, the future is becoming brighter. The possibility of vaccination however also raises a lot of questions, especially for patients with inflammatory RMDs and patients who are treated with drugs that may influence their immune system. To address these questions EULAR has formed a Task Force of representatives of its constituents, patients, health professionals and rheumatologists experienced in the field which addressed pertinent aspects. This information is based on knowledge available at this moment in time, realising that specific data about the performance of the emerging vaccines to COVID-19 in patients with RMDs and in patients treated with drugs that influence the immune system are not yet available. In the coming months we expect that more relevant information will be collected. When you read this information, please realise that this text will need to be updated when new information becomes available. In general, several different kinds of vaccines will be used in national vaccination programmes. Vaccines that are presently being used or under development specifically for COVID-19 are non-live vaccines, that cannot give you the viral disease, that …