[nudephil (OP)]

Sylvia asks the following:

If a Lupus patient - and I understand each patient has individual symptoms - has the COVID vaccine, might it be harmful? The patient I'm referring to had the flu vaccine, and she reacted badly and was quite poorly.

[evan_au]

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which generally indicates an overactive immune response
- So active that the immune system is attacking the body's own tissues
- Typical treatment is with immune suppressants, which means that the patient is more likely to catch COVID-19
- Severe COVID-19 disease is an immune overreaction to the virus, so it's not clear if this is likely to be better or worse
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupus

As always, talk to your doctor or specialist (if you have someone treating the lupus).
-There are now several COVID vaccines available, using different techniques
- Some of them use very different methods from the flu vaccine
- So some options are available...
- But there is probably not much experience, yet

At present, it is recommended that those with severe allergic reactions (eg people who need to carry an epipen) should delay getting the vaccination.

I heard that CDC issued a report after about 1.9 million COVID vaccinations, and found 21 adverse reactions.
- They are actively monitoring for adverse reactions (as are health authorities in other countries)
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/cdc-says-severe-allergic-reactions-to-covid-vaccine-run-10-times-the-flu-shot-but-still-rare.html