Prevalence of Side Effects of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine: A Multicenter Experience From Pakistan

Taimur Haider; Javeria Ali; Syed Mushhood Ali; Aqsa Syed Iftikhar; Ahsan Ali Siddiqui; Adeeba Salahuddin Khan; Javeria Ahmed Qamar; Khadija Sohail; Adnan Anwar; Atif A Hashmi

doi:10.7759/cureus.46543

Prevalence of Side Effects of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine: A Multicenter Experience From Pakistan

Cureus. 2023 Oct 5;15(10):e46543. doi: 10.7759/cureus.46543. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Paediatrics, District Headquarter Hospital, Jhang, PAK.
² Internal Medicine, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, PAK.
³ Internal Medicine, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi, PAK.
⁴ Family Medicine, Tumair General Hospital, Riyadh, SAU.
⁵ Emergency Medicine, Ziauddin University, Karachi, PAK.
⁶ Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, PAK.
⁷ Internal Medicine, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, PAK.
⁸ Physiology, Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, PAK.
⁹ Internal Medicine, Essa General Hospital, Karachi, PAK.
¹⁰ Pathology, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi, PAK.

Abstract

Introduction The most efficient method of combating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic would be to use effective, safe, and proven vaccines; however, their widespread use has been hampered partly by concerns over possible adverse effects. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine side effects among participants. Methods This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study conducted using a non-probability sampling technique. The duration of the study was nine months, from February 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022. The study included 900 participants who provided informed consent and had received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Demographic characteristics of participants, such as gender, age, comorbidities, AstraZeneca vaccine with both doses along with booster dose, previous exposure to COVID-19 infection, and the prevalence of any local and systemic side effects following the first and second doses of vaccine, were documented. Results The study findings showed that of the 900 participants, 414 (46.0%) were males and 486 (54.0%) were females; their mean age was 40.72 ± 13.47 years. Among them, 198 (22.0%) had hypertension and 144 (16.0%) had diabetes mellitus. Following the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, pain at the injection site was the most commonly reported side effect in 594 (66.0%) participants. Moreover, swelling at the injection site was the most commonly reported side effect in 522 (58.0%) participants after receiving the second dose of the vaccine. The level of satisfaction showed that the majority of the 648 participants (72.0%) were satisfied with their vaccination. Conclusion This study concluded that pain at the injection site was the most commonly reported side effect, followed by swelling and fever after the first dose of the vaccine. Following the second dose of the vaccine, adverse effects included headache, swelling, and burning at the injection site.

Keywords: adverse effects; astrazeneca; covid-19 vaccine; pain; side effects.