Background: To evaluate the ocular adverse event (OAE) and the incidence rate that can occur after coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination.
Methods: Patients who visited with an ophthalmologic diagnosis within a month of COVID-19 vaccination were retrospectively analyzed. OAEs were categorized as ischemia and inflammation by their presumed pathogenesis, and were compared by types of vaccine: messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and viral vector vaccine. The crude incidence rate was calculated using data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
Results: Twenty-four patients with OAEs after COVID-19 vaccination were reviewed: 10 patients after mRNA and 14 after viral vector vaccine. Retinal vein occlusion (9 patients) and paralytic strabismus (4 patients) were the leading diagnoses. Ischemic OAE was likely to occur after viral vector vaccines, while inflammatory OAE was closely related to mRNA vaccine (p=0.017). The overall incidence rate of OAE was 5.8 cases per million doses: 11.5 per million doses in viral vector vaccine and 3.4 per million doses in mRNA vaccine.
Conclusion: OAEs can be observed shortly after the COVID-19 vaccination, and their category was different based on the types of vaccine. The information and incidence of OAE based on the type of vaccine can help monitor patients who were administered the COVID-19 vaccine.
Keywords: Coronavirus; Messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine; Ocular adverse event; Viral vector vaccine.