SARS-COV-2 vaccine acceptance in patients with rheumatic diseases: a cross-sectional study

Objectives To evaluate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine acceptance among patients with rheumatic diseases (RMD). Methods All rheumatology patients attending a large suburban health network were invited to participate in an anonymized online survey. The primary outcome of interest was SARS-COV-2 vaccine acceptance. Results The mean (SD) age of respondents (n = 641) was 52.7 (15.1) years and 74.4% (n = 474) were female. Sixty-five percent were willing to have a SARS-COV-2 vaccine, while 34.4% were vaccine-hesitant (unwilling or undecided). On multivariate analysis, vaccine acceptance was associated with smoking (OR: 2.25 [95% CI: 1.22–4.15; p = .009]), history of malignancy (OR: 2.51 [95% CI: 1.19–5.26; p = .015]), influenza or pneumococcal vaccination in the preceding year (OR: 2.69 [95% CI: 1.78–4.05; p