Correspondence On 'Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Patients With Rheumatic And Musculoskeletal Diseases: A Message For Rheumatologists'

We read with great interest the letter recently published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases by Priori et al ,1 who carried out an online survey among patients with rheumatic diseases to explore their willingness to receive the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. An alarming high hesitancy was observed in nearly half of these patients.\n\nThis is particularly concerning as patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRDs) are regarded as at higher risk for developing severe COVID-19 and, for this reason, they should be vaccinated with priority.2 3\n\nTo date, four vaccines have been approved in Italy for COVID-19 but only three are currently available (ie, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca). Importantly, the European Alliance of Association for Rheumatology stated that all these vaccines can be used safely in patients with AIIRDs as well as in patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment.4 Similarly, the Italian Society of Rheumatology (Societa Italiana di Reumatologia) produced a document (last update: 13 March 2021) to confirm the safety of all the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for patients with AIIRDs.5\n\nIn recent weeks, AstraZeneca vaccine is undergoing an unprecedented media firestorm following reports on its possible association with venous thromboembolism.6 With this regard, the European Medicines Agency has stated that the overall benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects in the general population.7\n\nOur aim was to explore the willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines among …