If you don't have an auto-immune disease, you probably know and love someone who does.

These are diseases where the body's immune system attacks healthy cells, and they include conditions like type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

And plenty of people with these conditions have been asking the ABC: what happens if you have an auto-immune disease and get coronavirus? And is it safe for me to have a COVID vaccine?

Today on Coronacast, why it's extra important for the 1 in 14 people with an auto-immune disease to get vaccinated against COVID, and what the research is telling us about these people's concerns.

Also on today's show:

* Should I just wait to get the Novavax vaccine?

* Norman says that vaccines have the potential to make SARS-CoV-2 "like the common cold". But don't people who have mild or even no symptoms of a COVID-19 infection often wind up with lasting organ damage?

* What's the difference between the words inoculation, immunisation and vaccination?