UC San Diego

Background: Pregnant women are at higher risk for severe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend vaccination. However, the frequency of vaccine side effects in pregnant women with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) remains unknown.Objective: We investigated the frequencies of short-term (≤ 7 days) adverse reactions following the initial COVID-19 vaccination ever received by pregnant women with AIIRD. Methods: A descriptive analysis of the incidence of side effects following the COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women with AIIRD was conducted utilizing data from the MotherToBaby Study (MTB) registry, a prospective cohort study designed to assess the safety of drug and vaccine exposure during pregnancy. Results: Of 1413 participants who received dose 1 of the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy, 79 had AIIRD. There was no significant difference in the total number of adverse reactions between pregnant women with and without AIIRD (β = –0.01, 95% CI: –0.17, 0.17). Pregnant women with higher HAQ-DI in AIIRD had a significantly higher total number of systemic reactions (β = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.04, 1.10) than those with lower HAQ-DI, although the total number of adverse reactions was not significantly different (β = 0.27, 95% CI: –0.08, 0.62). Conclusion: We found no significant difference in the frequency of COVID-19 vaccine-related side effects between pregnant women with and without AIIRD. The results of this assessment may help provide information for pregnant women with AIIRD regarding COVID-19 vaccination.