Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Immunol. Aug 24, 2022; 12(2): 9-14
Published online Aug 24, 2022. doi: 10.5411/wji.v12.i2.9
Vaccines and autoimmunity during the COVID-19 pandemic
Tsvetelina Velikova
Tsvetelina Velikova, Department of Clinical Immunology, University Hospital Lozenetz, Sofia 1407, Bulgaria
Tsvetelina Velikova, Medical Faculty, Sofia University, Sofia 1407, Bulgaria
Author contributions: Velikova T wrote the draft and revised the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tsvetelina Velikova, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Immunology, University Hospital Lozenetz, Kozyak 1 Street, Sofia 1407, Bulgaria. tsvelikova@medfac.mu-sofia.bg
Received: July 2, 2021
Peer-review started: July 2, 2021
First decision: July 30, 2021
Revised: August 13, 2021
Accepted: July 24, 2022
Article in press: July 24, 2022
Published online: August 24, 2022
Abstract

To control the pandemic, efficient vaccines must be applied to the population, including patients with autoimmune diseases. Therefore, one can expect that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines may influence the underlying autoimmune processes in these patients. Additionally, it is essential to understand whether COVID-19 vaccines would be effective, safe, and provide long-lasting immunological protection and memory. However, the currently available and approved COVID-19 vaccines turned out to be safe, effective, and reliable in patients with autoimmune inflammatory and rheumatic diseases. Furthermore, most patients said they felt safer after getting vaccinations for COVID-19 and reported enhanced overall quality of life and psychological wellbeing. In general, the COVID-19 vaccines have been highly tolerated by autoimmune patients. Such findings might comfort patients who are reluctant to use COVID-19 vaccines and assist doctors in guiding their patients into receiving vaccinations more easily and quickly.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Immune response, COVID-19 vaccine, Immune memory, Autoimmunity, Autoimmune diseases, Relapse

Core Tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have created concerns about their efficacy and safety, notably in autoimmune patients. Which vaccine adverse events are related to the underlying autoimmunity is unclear. Additional data is needed to evaluate the immunological impact of COVID-19 vaccines in terms of effectiveness and immune-driven adverse effects that might provoke a disease flare in individuals with a history of autoimmune-related symptoms. However, the risk of autoimmune disease flare after vaccination was considered low, while the immune responses after vaccination showed great immunogenicity for these patients. In addition, vaccination will considerably decrease related morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in autoimmune patients.