• Samar Tharwat, Haidy Adel Abdelsalam, Adel Abdelsalam, and Mohammed Kamal Nassar.
• Rheumatology & Immunology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2022 Jan 1; 2022: 59315065931506.

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy or refusal has arisen as a major global public health concern. The aim of this study was to address the attitudes of patients with autoimmune and autoinflammatory rheumatological diseases (AIIRDs) about COVID-19 vaccination and investigate the factors that influence their decision.MethodsThis interview-based cross-sectional study was carried out on AIIRD patients at the period between 15 August and 15 September 2021. The questionnaire included socioeconomic data, intention to receive COVID-19 vaccine, AIIRD subtype, disease duration, associated comorbidities, history of COVID-19, beliefs and attitudes towards COVID-19, and conventional vaccination in general and COVID-19 vaccine in particular, in addition to COVID-19 vaccination status.ResultsA total of 206 AIIRD patients were included, with a mean age of 37.61 years (SD = 10.67), and 84% were females. The percentage of vaccine acceptance was 70.39%, while only 16.02% were hesitant and 13.59% were resistant to COVID-19 vaccination. About one-fourth of patients reported getting infected with COVID-19. Of them, 15.1% were hospitalized and 5.7% were admitted at the intensive care unit (ICU). Most of the AIIRD patients (77.2%) believed that they are at a higher risk of getting COVID-19. The main motivation for vaccine acceptance was the fear of being infected (41.4%). About 40% of vaccine nonacceptants fear about the serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccine.ConclusionThere is a high acceptability rate of COVID-19 vaccination among AIIRD patients. Public health workers and policymakers must emphasize efficient COVID-19 vaccine acceptance messaging for all AIIRD patients.Copyright © 2022 Samar Tharwat et al.

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