Adverse effects following COVID-19 vaccination in Iran

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 476 - 8
• Main Authors: Babaee, Ebrahim, Amirkafi, Ali, Tehrani-Banihashemi, Arash, SoleimanvandiAzar, Neda, Eshrati, Babak, Rampisheh, Zahra, Asadi-Aliabadi, Mehran, Nojomi, Marzieh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 18.05.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adverse and side effects; Adverse effect; AstraZeneca; Chi-square test; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - adverse effects; Demographic variables; Drug dosages; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions - epidemiology; Drugs; Fever; Headaches; Health services; Humans; Infections; Iran - epidemiology; Pain; Questionnaires; Random sampling; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Side effects; Sinopharm; Sputnik V; Statistical sampling; Statistical tests; Statistics; Vaccination - adverse effects; Vaccine; Vaccines; Iran; COVID-19; Sinopharm; Iran; Sputnik V; Vaccine; AstraZeneca; Adverse effect
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07411-5
• ISSN: 1471-2334

Vaccination is a key intervention to prevent COVID-19. Many vaccines are administered globally, yet there is not much evidence regarding their safety and adverse effects. Iran also faces this challenge, especially as data regarding the Sputnik V vaccine is sparse. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the adverse effects of the most commonly used vaccines in Iran. Using a retrospective cohort study design, 6600 subjects aged 18 years or older who had received two doses of any of the three COVID-19 vaccines (Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V) were selected using a random sampling method between March and August 2021. Subjects were asked about any adverse effects of the vaccines by trained interviewers via telephone interview. Vaccine-related adverse effects in individuals during the first 72 h and subsequently following both doses of the vaccines were determined. The demographic variables, type of administered vaccine, adverse effects, and history of the previous infection with COVID-19 were collected. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and analytical statistics (Chi-squared and Wilcoxon tests) were performed at a 95% significance level using STATA software version 15 (STATA Corp, College Station, TX, USA). From 6600 participants, 4775 responded (response rate = 72.3%). Of the participants, 1460 (30.6%) received the AstraZeneca vaccine, 1564 (32.8%) received the Sinopharm vaccine and 1751 (36.7%) received the Sputnik V vaccine. 2653 participants (55.56%) reported adverse effects after the first dose and 1704 (35.7%) after the second dose. Sputnik V caused the most adverse effects with 1449 (82.7%) vaccine recipients reporting symptoms after the first or second dose, compared with 1030 (70.5%) for AstraZeneca and only 585 (37.4%) for the Sinopharm vaccine. The most common adverse effects after the first dose were fatigue (28.37%), chill/fever (26.86%), and skeletal pain (22.38%). These three adverse effects were the same for the second dose, although their prevalence was lower. In this study, we demonstrate that the Sputnik V vaccine has the highest rate of adverse effects, followed by the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines used in Iran are safe and there were no reports of serious adverse effects.