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BackgroundWe describe the early experiences of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received the COVID-19 vaccine.MethodsFrom 2 April to 30 April 2021, we conducted an online, international survey of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination. We collected patient-reported data on clinician communication, beliefs and intent about discontinuing disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around the time of vaccination, and patient-reported adverse events after vaccination.ResultsWe analysed 2860 adults with systemic rheumatic diseases who received COVID-19 vaccination (mean age 55.3 years, 86.7% female, 86.3% white). Types of COVID-19 vaccines were Pfizer-BioNTech (53.2%), Oxford/AstraZeneca (22.6%), Moderna (21.3%), Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (1.7%) and others (1.2%). The most common rheumatic disease was rheumatoid arthritis (42.3%), and 81.2% of respondents were on a DMARD. The majority (81.9%) reported communicating with clinicians about vaccination. Most (66.9%) were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy, although many (44.3%) were concerned about rheumatic disease flares. After vaccination, the most reported patient-reported adverse events were fatigue/somnolence (33.4%), headache (27.7%), muscle/joint pains (22.8%) and fever/chills (19.9%). Rheumatic disease flares that required medication changes occurred in 4.6%.ConclusionAmong adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination, patient-reported adverse events were typical of those reported in the general population. Most patients were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy. The relatively low frequency of rheumatic disease flare requiring medications was reassuring.

Objectives: To develop treat-to-target (T2T) recommendations in giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)., Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to retrieve data on treatment targets and outcomes in GCA/PMR as well as to identify the evidence for the effectiveness of a T2T-based management approach in these diseases. Based on evidence and expert opinion, the task force (29 participants from 10 countries consisting of physicians, a healthcare professional and a patient) developed recommendations, with consensus obtained through voting. The final level of agreement was provided anonymously., Results: Five overarching principles and six-specific recommendations were formulated. Management of GCA and PMR should be based on shared decisions between patient and physician recognising the need for urgent treatment of GCA to avoid ischaemic complications, and it should aim at maximising health-related quality of life in both diseases. The treatment targets are achievement and maintenance of remission, as well as prevention of tissue ischaemia and vascular damage. Comorbidities need to be considered when assessing disease activity and selecting treatment., Conclusion: These are the first T2T recommendations for GCA and PMR. Treatment targets, as well as strategies to assess, achieve and maintain these targets have been defined. The research agenda highlights the gaps in evidence and the need for future research., Competing Interests: Competing interests: CDe has received consulting/speaker’s fees from Abbvie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sparrow, Roche, Galapagos and Sanofi, all unrelated to this manuscript. He is an editorial board member of ARD. AK has received consultancy fees, honoraria and travel expenses from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Novartis, UCB and Pfizer, all unrelated to this manuscript. He is an editorial board member of ARD. DA received grants, speaker fees, and/or consultancy fees from Abbvie, Amgen, Galapagos, Lilly, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz and Sanofi. He is an editorial board member of ARD. MB has received consulting fees from AbbVie. DC has received speaker fees from Abiogen, BMS and GSK. MCC received consultancy and/or speaker fees from GSK, Vifor, Abbvie, Astra Zeneca and Janssen and a research grant form Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals. BD has received consultancies from Novartis, Abbvie, Roche and speaker agreements from Chugai. CDu has received consultancy or speaker fees and travel expenses from Abbvie, AOP Orphan, Astra-Zeneca, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Eli-Lilly, Janssen, Galapagos, Merck-Sharp-Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, UCB, Vifor and research support by Eli-Lilly, Pfizer, UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript. BH received speaker fees and/or consultancies from Abbvie, Amgen, Astra-Zeneca, BMS, Boehringer, Chugai, GSK, InflaRx, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Novartis, Phadia, Roche and Vifor. ELM has received consulting fees from Boehringer-Ingelheim, Horizon Therapeutics, Alvotech Inc; speaker fees from Boehringer-Ingelheim; royalties from UpToDate. SPM has received consultancy fees (Invex Therapeutics); advisory board fees (Invex therapeutics; Gensight) and speaker fees (Heidelberg engineering; Chugai-Roche Ltd; Allergan; Santen; Teva UK; Chiesi; and Santhera). All unrelated to this manuscript. LN has received consulting fees from AbbVie. CP is or has been the principal investigator of studies by AbbVie, Sanofi and Novartis and has received consulting/speaker’s fees from Vifor, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche, all unrelated to this manuscript. CS has received consultancy fees from Abbvie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche and royalties from UpToDate. All unrelated to this manuscript. SES has received research support by Astra-Zeneca and has done provided unpaid consultancy for Sanofi. SES is supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation RISE pilot award and Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation Robert A Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Award, outside of the submitted work. WAS has received consultancy fees, honoraria and travel expenses from Abbvie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Medac, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi and is principal investigator in trials sponsored by Abbvie, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi. PS has received consultancy fees from Amgen and Janssen and royalties from UpToDate, all unrelated to this manuscript. JSS received grants to his institution from Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Novartis and Roche and provided expert advice for, or had symposia speaking engagements with, AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Astro, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celltrion, Chugai, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis-Sandoz, Pfizer, R-Pharm, Roche, Samsung, Sanofi and UCB. He is the editor in chief of ARD. JT has received consultancy or speaker fees Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Novartis, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen, Abbvie, Eli-Lilly. All unrelated to this manuscript. CET-G has received consultancy fees, honoraria and travel expenses from Abbvie, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Biopas, Janssen, Pfizer, Pharmalab, Roche, all unrelated to this manuscript. FB has received consultancy fees, honoraria and travel expenses from Abbvie, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi, all unrelated to this manuscript. He is an editorial board member of ARD. EH, LE, AA, SA, PCG, AH, TAK and MW declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)