Data Mining on COVID-19 Vaccines: Side Effects

Proc Assoc Inf Sci Technol. 2021;58(1):869-871. doi: 10.1002/pra2.592. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a pandemic disease affecting billions of people worldwide. Taking vaccines is a most effective approach to gain fully control. Thanks to the coordinated efforts from all over the world, several brands of vaccines targeting COVID-19 have passed through clinical trials and been brought to the public. Growing numbers of people are taking vaccines and share their feedback on social media, mostly on Twitter. In this study, we used Twitter data to analyze the side effects on each individual and quantify these side effects in a brand-wise and country-wise manner. Based on Twitter data, we found that the United States has the largest number of people getting vaccinated, Pfizer is the most widely used vaccine brand around the world and the most frequent side effect is cold. From our analysis, the side effects of vaccines are under controllable and are acceptable, and everyone can join the vaccinated camping without hesitation.

Keywords: COVID‐19 vaccines; N‐gram; Twitter; keyword extraction; side effects.