Abstract
Vaccinations are a key prevention measure in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (BioNTech/Pfizer), the first to receive authorization, was widely used in the mass vaccination campaign in Italy. Healthcare workers were identified as a priority group for vaccination, but few studies have assessed its reactogenicity among the young working age population. An online survey was conducted to investigate the adverse reactions occurring in the 7 days following the first and second vaccination doses amongst resident doctors of the University of Genoa, employed at the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino of Genoa, between 11 January and 16 March 2021. A total of 512 resident physicians were invited to participate in the study (female = 53.2%; mean age = 28.9 years), of whom 296 (female = 53.4%, mean age = 28.9 years) and 275 (female = 55.3%, mean age = 29.1 years) completed the survey after their first and second vaccination doses, respectively. In the 7 days following the first dose, most common adverse reactions were local pain (96.3%), fatigue (42.6%), headache (33.8%), arthromyalgia (28.0%), and 5.1% reported fever, while following the second dose, participants reported local pain (93.5%), fatigue (74.9%), headache (57.5%), arthromyalgia (58.2%), and fever (30.9%), with a higher prevalence among females. Systemic (but not local) reactions increased following the second vaccination, reaching severe intensity in 9.8% of participants and causing three or more events of moderate intensity in 23.7% of participants. Adverse reactions preventing regular daily activities could cause absenteeism among workers. These results can be useful to inform populations of young individuals, set expectations, and improve adherence to vaccination campaigns.
Highlights
At the end of 2019, the emergence of a novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic
Systemic reactions after the second dose were significantly more frequent compared to the first vaccination, in several instances preventing regular daily activities, and with over half of the study population resorting to symptomatic treatment, such as fever lowering medications or NSAIDs
The combination of multiple moderate reactions that could interfere in daily activities increased after the second vaccination, with almost one in four resident doctors showing three or more moderate reactions following the second dose
Summary
At the end of 2019, the emergence of a novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic. In December 2020, the first emergency use authorization for a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 was issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA): a non-amplifying mRNA vaccine, called BNT162b2 [1,2,3] This vaccine was the first to receive full authorization for use by the FDA [4]. Messenger RNA vaccines provide the genetic code of the pathogen’s relevant antigen, in this case the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which is translated by the host to form the relevant protein, which in turn induces specific humoral and cell-mediated immunity [5]
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