Background: Studies of flares of autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination are limited by small sample size, short follow up or at risk of selection bias.
Methods: A national retrospective cohort study of consecutive AIIRD patients ≥12 years old, across 8 hospitals who received at least one dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Patients were included from the date of 1st vaccine dose and censored at the time of flare or on the date of the clinic visit at least 3 months from cohort entry, whichever came first.