[Predictors of willingness for COVID-19 vaccination in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases at the beginning of the vaccination rollout].

Authors

Dana Delia, Ulf Müller-Ladner, Jörn Pons-Kühnemann, Matthias Broll, Björn Bühring, Eike Domgörgen, Andreas Dormann, Rebecca Hasseli, Farid I Kandil, Ilka Kraeft, Andreas Krause, Hanns-Martin Lorenz, Nicole Morena, Filiz Özden, Alexander Pfeil, Jutta G Richter, Jasemine Saech, Thomas Schneidereit, Andreas Schlesinger, Christof Specker, Kathrin Storck-Müller, Johannes Strunk, Konstantinos Triantafyllias, Daniel Vagedes, Katharina Vesper, Siegfried Wassenberg, Sami Zeglam, Tim Schmeiser

Published in

Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie. Oct 11, 2026. Epub Oct 11, 2026.

Abstract

In January 2021 the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was coupled to high case numbers and mortality worldwide and in Germany. The start of the vaccination campaign was initially characterized by limited availability and uncertainty but rapidly gained momentum. Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) were prioritized at an early stage due to the high risk for a severe disease trajectory. In this group vaccination proved to be effective and greatly reduced the risk of a severe course. The aim of the study was to ascertain the willingness for vaccination and the influencing factors in patients with IRD in order to optimize vaccination strategies and to reach vulnerable groups more easily.
Between January and April 2021 a nationwide survey was carried out in Germany among N= 3661 patients with IRD and N=381 control patients with other chronic internal diseases. The questionnaire covered willingness to undergo vaccination against COVID-19 and demographic and disease-related variables. For the analysis, "willing to be vaccinated" and "already vaccinated" were pooled ("vaccination willingness") and compared the unwilling. The statistical evaluation was carried out using χ2-tests, odds ratio (OR) analyses and logistic regression to identify independent influencing factors.
The proportions of those willing to be vaccinated were comparable in both groups with 90% very high (IRD 89.2% and control group 93.9%). They continually increased in both groups during the observational period and with increasing age. Another strong predictor was a previously carried out simultaneous vaccination for influenza, which was associated with a significantly higher willingness to be vaccinated in both groups.
The willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time of the vaccination rollout in Germany was high. For patients with IRD, it was predicted by age, previous vaccination against influenza and the timing of vaccination but not the subtype of IRD or the type of immunomodulatory medication. Young patients with IRD in particular should be systematically identified as a risk group with a low willingness to be vaccinated. For this patient group an intensified target group-specific vaccination counselling should be integrated into the clinical care, which specifically addresses suitable information channels for those affected.

PMID:
42860452
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.