Common Side Effects of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine: An Experience From Pakistan

Syed Muhammad Safi Haider; Shaf Ali Alvi; Hamza Khan; Rameen Majeed; Tatheer Syed; Adnan Anwar; Atif A Hashmi

doi:10.7759/cureus.40878

Common Side Effects of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine: An Experience From Pakistan

Cureus. 2023 Jun 23;15(6):e40878. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40878. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Syed Muhammad Safi Haider¹, Shaf Ali Alvi¹, Hamza Khan², Rameen Majeed³, Tatheer Syed⁴, Adnan Anwar^{5

6}, Atif A Hashmi⁷

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, PAK.
² General Surgery, Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, PAK.
³ Biochemistry, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, PAK.
⁴ Public Health, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, PAK.
⁵ Physiology, Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, PAK.
⁶ Internal Medicine, Essa General Hospital, Karachi, PAK.
⁷ Pathology, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi, PAK.

Abstract

Introduction The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) epidemic spread quickly. Vaccines are now being distributed to stop the infectious spread and halt fatalities. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first mRNA-based vaccine introduced to boost immunity against COVID-19; however, it could lead to various adverse reactions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of Pfizer vaccine side effects among participants. Methods This was a multicenter cross-sectional study that was performed using a non-probability sampling method. The study period was about six months from March 1, 2022, to August 31, 2022. A total of 1000 participants who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine met the inclusion criteria. Demographic details of participants, for example, gender, age, comorbidities, Pfizer vaccine with both doses along with booster dose, previous exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, and the incidence of any local and systemic side effects following the first and second doses of vaccine, were reported. Results The study findings showed that out of 1000 participants, 644 (64.4%) were males and 356 (35.6%) were females; their mean age was 43.06±14.98 years. Among them, 280 (28.0%) had hypertension and 356 (35.6%) had diabetes. Following the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, burning at the injection site and fever were the most commonly reported side effects in 704 (70.4%) and 700 (70.0%) participants, respectively. Following the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, muscle pain was the most commonly reported side effect in 628 (62.8%) participants. Conclusion This study concluded that the most frequent adverse effects of the Pfizer vaccine were burning at the injection site, fever, pain at the injection site, muscle pain, swelling at the injection site, and joint pain. Moreover, the first dose was associated with more side effects than the second dose.

Keywords: burning; covid-19; fever; joint pain; pain; pfizer vaccine; side effects; swelling; vaccine.