“A SURVEY OF ADVERSE EVENTS FOLLOWING IMMUNIZATION (AEFI) OF COVID-19 IN HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN SOUTH GUJARAT REGION”

Abstract

Background:

India rolled out two vaccines developed in India itself and launched its vaccination drive starting with health care workers (HCW). These vaccines are developed with unprecedented speed and approved for emergency use by health authorities based on limited data. Hence, there is a need for active surveillance of vaccine recipients to monitor for safety.

Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate adverse event following immunization (AEFI) amongst the HCW received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine either COVISHIELD or COVAXIN.

Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based retrospective cross sectional survey was carried out at tertiary care teaching hospital of South Gujarat after getting approval from Institutional Human Ethics Committee. A total of 542 HCW who received two doses of vaccine were enrolled. Vaccine related adverse effects and association of AEFI with demographic variables were determined.

Results: Fever, pain at injection site and bodyache were the common adverse events reported by the participants following both doses of COVISHILED and COVAXIN. Most of the AEFIs were reported within 6-12 hour of vaccination after first and second doses. We found no association of AEFI with comorbidity and previous COVID-19 infection. Significant association of AEFI was found with gender, age groups and occupation (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Most of the adverse events were non-serious and reported within 6-12 hour of vaccination. Only few adverse events were reported after 24 hours of vaccination and no serious AEFI was reported. Younger age groups, females and health care workers are at higher risk of AEFI. Precaution needs to be taken while vaccinating these individuals.