On Aug. 27, 2021, The National Institutes of Health announced that it had begun a clinical trial to assess the antibody response to an extra dose of an authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine in people with autoimmune disease who did not respond to an original COVID-19 vaccine regimen.

The trial also investigated whether pausing immunosuppressive therapy for autoimmune disease improved the antibody response to an extra dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in this population. The Phase 2 trial is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.