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Letter
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: a message for rheumatologists
  1. Roberta Priori1,2,
  2. Greta Pellegrino1,
  3. Serena Colafrancesco1,
  4. Cristiano Alessandri1,
  5. Fulvia Ceccarelli1,
  6. Manuela Di Franco1,
  7. Valeria Riccieri1,
  8. Rossana Scrivo1,
  9. Antonio Sili Scavalli1,
  10. Francesca Romana Spinelli1,
  11. Fabrizio Conti1
  1. 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche, Internistiche, Anestesiologiche e Cardiovascolari- Reumatologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  2. 2 UniCamillus, Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Dr Greta Pellegrino, Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche, Internistiche, Anestesiologiche e Cardiovascolari- Reumatologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Lazio, Italy; greta.pellegrino{at}uniroma1.it

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220059

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    SARS-CoV-2 vaccines appear to be the most promising strategy for fighting the virus and protecting also those who might be at higher risk of severe COVID-19, such as patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). However, vaccine hesitancy might greatly impair the possibility to reach herd immunity and curtail the virus.1 2 As underlined by some studies performed before vaccine availability, a non-negligible proportion of subjects among the general population would have refused vaccination against COVID-19.3 4

    During the first weeks of the ongoing vaccination campaign, we proposed an online survey to adult patients with RMDs residing in the Lazio region followed up at our tertiary referral centre in Rome, Italy. Healthy controls (HCs) were recruited using the ‘best friend’ system. Participants had to report on eight different domains with two possible answers: ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (table 1).

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    Table 1

    Multivariable models predicting willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination and other SARS-CoV-2 and/or vaccine-related outcomes in patients with RMDs and healthy controls

    Only for the item ‘Willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination’, answers were ‘yes’ or ‘no/don’t know’, with the possibility to give an explanation in case …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Josef S Smolen

    • Contributors RP and GP contributed to the design of the project, and drafted and revised the paper. SC was responsible for data analysis, and drafted and revised the paper. FC, VR, RS and FRS collected the data and revised the paper. CA, MDF, ASS and CF revised the paper.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.