Cutaneous adverse events following 771 doses of the inactivated and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: A survey study among health care providers.

Abstract

IntroductionAs Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19) still continues to affect humanity worldwide, different types of COVID‐19 vaccines are being administered to maintain immunization against COVID‐19. As both the inactivated and mRNA vaccines are now being applied prevalently, systemic adverse events along with cutaneous side effects are frequently being reported in the literature.AimIn our study, we aimed to determine the cutaneous adverse effects of the inactivated (Sinovac‐CoronaVac) and mRNA (Pfizer‐BioNTech) vaccines in healthcare providers in a tertiary referral hospital.MethodsA web‐based survey consisting of 26 questions related to the systemic and cutaneous side effects of the inactivated and mRNA COVID‐19 vaccines, was formed. The online questionnaire was spread among the healthcare professionals working in a tertiary referral hospital via common instant messaging groups and e‐mail.FindingsA total number of 234 participants were included in the study. One hundred fifty‐seven were female whereas 77 were male. The mean age was 31.51 years. Eighty‐nine respondents reported to have at least one cutaneous side effect after COVID‐19 vaccination. Most commonly observed cutaneous side effects were local injection site reactions. Pfizer‐BioNTech vaccine at the first and second doses, was shown to have statistically significantly higher rates of systemic and cutaneous adverse events compared to the Sinovac‐CoronaVac vaccine.ResultsOur study shows that both inactivated and mRNA COVID‐19 vaccines are associated with transient local injection site reactions, no severe systemic or cutaneous adverse events were observed in our study population.