A new subunit vaccine against HZ has recently been approved for vaccination of adults in Sweden. This vaccine (Shingrix) has been shown to elicit a strong cellular and humoral immune response in healthy adults regardless of age. Studies on the immunogenicity and efficacy of this vaccine in immunosuppressed patients, such as patients with RA, are scarce.

Objectives. To investigate: 1) the immunogenicity of 2 doses of vaccine against HZ administrated 2 months apart in patients with RA treated with JAK-inhibitors for at least 3 months compared to immunogenicity of the vaccine given to RA patients treated with or without other synthetic or biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) before the starting the treatment with JAK-inhibitors and healthy controls; 2) the tolerability of subunit vaccine against HZ i.e. whether vaccination is associated with increased disease activity, flare of RA or the onset of other autoimmune disease 3) long-term immunogenicity of two doses of the subunit vaccine against HZ; 4) the impact of smoking habits and alcohol consumption on the immunogenicity of vaccine and protection against HZ infection 5) the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing HZ.