How safe is Covishield (ChAdOx1nCoV-19) vaccine? Experience from a tertiary care hospital in South India

Inbaraj, L. R.; Elizabeth, C. G.; Franklyn, N. N.

Background: COVID vaccine has been recently rolled out for Health care workers in India. Though vaccine trials and data are available, people, including HCWs, need more real-life data from their contexts to get over the vaccine hesitancy. We aimed to determine the incidence of Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) among HCWs after their first dose of ChAdOx1nCoV-19 vaccine. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 218 staff of a tertiary care hospital. We circulated a google form with informed consent on the hospital WhatsApp platform and asked them to self-report their vaccination experience. Results: Two thirds (69.7% (152/218),95% CI: 63.1-75.7) had minor AEFI, and none had severe AEFI. Body ache (46.8%, 95% CI:40-53.6) was the most common symptom followed by headache (30.3%, 95% CI: 24.2-36.8) and fever (22%,95% CI: 16.8-28.1). Most of them (39.4%, 95% CI:32.9-46.2) experienced symptoms within 4-24 hours after taking the vaccine while 22.3% (95% CI:17.1-28.6)experienced it after a day. Majority of the HCWs (78.9% 95% CI: 72.8-84.1) were anxious before the vaccination. Younger age group and female gender were significantly associated with AEFI compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: HCWs experienced minor, self-limiting AEFI with the first dose of ChAdOx1nCoV-19. The hospital reported no serious AEFI following the vaccination.