Adverse Events following COVID-19 Vaccination in Indian Population

The efficacy of these covid vaccines is being evaluated but little is known about adverse events following vaccination outside of clinical trial data. An Indian study evaluating symptoms following the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine found that 65.9% of respondents reported at least one postvaccination symptom. The study is published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI).

This study was planned to determine the incidence of adverse events experienced by participants post-COVID-19 vaccination and compare adverse events in participants receiving Covishield and Covaxin. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was carried out on persons of either gender, above 18 years of age who had received at least one dose of any of the two COVID-19 vaccines. Information was gathered using a self-designed, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire.

The study population consisted of 565 participants, Covaxin vaccine was received by 128 (22.6%) participants while 437 (77.3%) participants had received the Covishield vaccine. 8% of the participants were rural residents and 92% were urban residents. The number of participants who experienced adverse events after Covishield was significantly higher when compared to those who experienced adverse events after Covaxin.

Out of the participants who reported a history of infection with SARS-CoV-2 before vaccination 92.5% (49) experienced pain at the injection site and 66% (35) experienced malaise compared to 78.3% (235) and 46% (138) participants, respectively who reported no history of infection. Adverse events like malaise, fatigue, fever, body ache, headache, joint pain, and decreased appetite were experienced by statistically significantly more participants after the first dose of the vaccine than after the second dose.

To conclude, a higher number of participants who received Covishield experienced adverse events compared to those who received Covaxin. Participants under the age of 50 experienced more adverse events. Adverse events such as malaise, fever, body ache, headache, and insomnia were reported more by participants receiving the Covishield vaccine.

Reference: Amey Kundawar, Chinmay O Guralwar, Smita Sontakke "Study of Adverse Events following COVID-19 Vaccination: A cross-sectional Survey in India, volume issue:70 JAPI.