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May 1, 2021 - Rheumatologists in Hong Kong joined hands to develop a set of consensus statements on COVID-19 vaccination for local adult patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. These timely statements would serve to be a guide for rheumatologists, other specialists, family physicians, specialty nurses, and the public regarding COVID-19 vaccination for patients with rheumatic diseases.
Vaccination against SAR-CoV-2 is a new campaign and a high immunization rate is believed to be the key to end the pandemic. Currently, there are two COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong the inactivated virus vaccine CoronaVac® (Sinovac) and the mRNA-based vaccine Comirnaty® (BioNTech/Fosun). However, due to the paucity of experience in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, there are concerns from patients regarding the efficacy and safety of the new COVID-19 vaccines. This underscores the importance of input from rheumatologists in providing appropriate advice to patients wi