Post COVID 19 vaccination symptoms among the health care workers in Egypt

Abstract

Background: Vaccines are the most important strategy to overcome the global pandemic of COVID 19. Although the vaccine’s protective effectiveness is commonly addressed, little is known regarding the adverse effects after vaccination. Therefore, this study’s primary objective was to study the prevalence of different COVID-19 vaccine side effects among the early vaccinated healthcare workers in Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was done to assess the post vaccination symptoms among the health care workers who were vaccinated with COVID vaccine in Egypt. Results: One hundred and ninety-two health care workers (HCWs) responded to this questionnaire. The most common symptoms reported after the 1st dose of vaccination were pain at injection site (81.7%), followed by tiredness (70.7%) then myalgia and bone pain (62.8%). The most reported distressing symptoms after the 2nd dose were local pain at injection site (18.8%), tiredness (13.6%) and headache (10.5%). Conclusion: We concluded that post vaccination symptoms among health care workers were mild, short symptoms, and there were no serious adverse effects after the first dose as well as the second dose. The majority of participants did not report COVID-19 infection after vaccination which confirms the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Key words: Covid vaccine, healthcare workers, Egypt