Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on COVID-19 vaccination for individuals with autoimmune rheumatic diseases in the Caribbean as vaccination programs are implemented. It is a living document that will be updated as more information becomes available. For most Caribbean countries the available vaccine is Oxford-AstraZeneca - a replication-deficient simian adenovirus vector, first approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom on December 30th 2020.

Methods

A task force consisting of 8 rheumatologists (see Appendix) was convened to review the literature and to address 4 questions-:

1. Are COVID-19 vaccines safe to administer to individuals with rheumatic disease?
2. Will these vaccines be effective in individuals with rheumatic disease?
3. Are individuals with rheumatic disease/on immunosuppressive therapy at increased risk of COVID-19 infection?
4. Are individuals with rheumatic disease/on immunosuppressive therapy at increased risk of worse outcomes with COVID-19?

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