With the state legislative session in full swing, the ACR is currently tracking 114 pieces of state legislation across many issue areas, including utilization management, prescription drug review boards and vaccines.
ACR Releases New Vaccination Guideline
The ACR recently released its first guideline focused on vaccination in adult and pediatric patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.1 The guideline recommends modifications to certain vaccine and medication schedules to increase immunogenicity and ensure patient safety, while encouraging providers not to miss vaccination opportunities. The Need Patients with rheumatic conditions who are on immunosuppressive…
2022 ACR Guideline for Vaccinations in Patients with RMDs
This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on the use of vaccinations in children and adults with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. It includes expanded indications for some vaccines, as well as guidance on whether to hold immunosuppressive medications or delay vaccination to maximize vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy.
Study Documents Breakthrough COVID-19 Infections in Vaccinated Healthcare Workers
A 2021 study demonstrated the prevalence of COVID-19 breakthrough infections in vaccinated healthcare workers, underlining the need for booster shots for this at-risk population.
Highlights from ACR Convergence’s Late-Breaking Abstracts
COVID-19 vaccination, treatments for rheumatic disease and more—the Late-Breaking Abstracts session of ACR Convergence 2021 highlighted six studies with implications for rheumatology.
Opening Session of ACR Convergence 2021 Takes on Burnout, Pandemic Challenges & Moving Toward a New Normal
Keynote speaker Seema Yasmin, MD, brought her unique perspective to moving past the pandemic to improve provider mental health, address vaccine hesitancy and prepare for future health crises.
CDC Advisers Consider Boosters for Immune-Compromised Americans
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention will consider evidence suggesting that a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines could increase protection among people with compromised immune systems. Data presented ahead of the July 22 meeting noted that people with compromised immune systems have a reduced antibody response following the recommended primary…
CDC Says Fully Vaccinated People Can Gather Unmasked with Others Indoors
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Individuals fully inoculated against COVID-19 can meet in small groups with other vaccinated people without wearing masks, but should keep wearing them outside the home, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on March 8. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said during a briefing that the agency’s new guidance…
Point-of-Care Testing for COVID-19
Ethan Craig was not pleased. As a reader of this column, you know that Dr. Craig is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate editor of The Rheumatologist. On this particular morning, however, he was the father of a 5-year-old who woke up…
COVID-19 Vaccines: Implications for Rheumatology Practice & Research
In late December, the ACR convened a COVID-19 Vaccine Consortium via a conference call to consider rheumatology’s place in the massive worldwide effort to develop, test, deliver and further study the vaccines promising to bring the historic pandemic under control.