COVID-19 vaccines-related adverse events and associated factors reported among adult Egyptians

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccine recipients are more likely to experience post-vaccination adverse events, which are considered the source of concerns about vaccine safety. This study aims to describe the utilization of COVID-19 vaccines and the associated adverse events and their possible predictors among adult Egyptians. An online cross-sectional study was designed to collect data through a Google Form questionnaire in November 2021. Adults who received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine were asked to report their experience with vaccination and associated adverse events. A total of 853 participants were included in the study after receiving Sinopharm/Sinovac (63%), AstraZeneca (27%), Pfizer-BioNTech (4.8%), and other vaccines (5.2%). Around 50% of participants thought that COVID-19 vaccines were safe, 30.8% advised others with vaccination, and 68.3% reported post-vaccination adverse events. The most commonly encountered adverse symptoms were injection site pain (82.5%), fatigue (67.4%), flu-like symptoms (59.6%), and bone and muscle pains (59.6%). Most adverse events were less likely reported by Sinopharm/Sinovac recipients than recipients of other vaccines. The significant predictors for reporting adverse events were female gender, the first dose of vaccination, and vaccine type (AstraZeneca versus Sinopharm/Sinovac) with multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) = 1.85 (1.34-2.54); 2.01 (1.24–3.25), and 3.86 (2.54–5.86). Findings revealed that adverse events of COVID-19 vaccines are common. Sinopharm/Sinovac recipients were reported to have lesser adverse events than other recipients. However, serious reactions were rare which ensures the safety of all vaccine types among the adult Egyptian population.