Safety & effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines: A narrative review

Abstract

There are currently eight vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 that have received Emergency Use Authorization by the WHO that can offer some protection to the world’s population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though research is being published all over the world, public health officials, policymakers and governments are collecting evidence-based information to establish the public health policies. Unfortunately, continued international travel, violations of lockdowns and social distancing, the lack of mask use, the emergence of mutant strains of the virus and lower adherence by a sector of the global population that remains sceptical of the protection offered by vaccines, or about any risks associated with vaccines, hamper these efforts. Here we examine the literature on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, with an emphasis on select categories of individuals and against new SARS-CoV-2 strains. The literature shows that these eight vaccines are highly effective in protecting the population from severe disease and death, but there are some issues concerning safety and adverse effects. Further, booster shots and variant-specific vaccines would also be required.

Evidence-Based Policies in Public Health to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

“…COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy needs to be addressed because the mass vaccination is ongoing in a bid to control the pandemic. To achieve this, the effectiveness and safety of vaccines must be proved [ 2 ].…”

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of vaccinated COVID-19 patients: A meta-analysis and systematic review

“…(1) Patients need to be clearly diagnosed of COVID-19 such as COVID-19 RNA was detected by PCR, isolate the virus or IGM/IGG antibodies from the patient's serum; (2) the study must be a case-control or cohort study; (3) the study must be including the vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19 patients; (4) the patient's clinical characteristics including gender, age, symptoms, treatments, prognosis, and other relevant information should be exhibited.…”

“…The World Health Organization also has approved 7 vaccines for emergency use. 2 Various types of vaccines including mRNA vaccines, viral vector, inactivated vaccine, protein subunit, and DNA vaccines are being developed to control the spread of COVID-19. 3 In December 2020, the mass vaccination program was launched, 4 and as of 1 August, 2022, a total of 12,308,330,588 doses of vaccine have been administered worldwide.…”

COVID-19: A state of art on immunological responses, mutations, and treatment modalities in riposte

“…Convidicea (AD5-nCoV), Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S), Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV), Covaxin (BBV152) and Sinovac (CoronaVac) have shown to cause reactions at the injection site, fatigue, headache, body aches and fever [162] . However, more serious adverse effects (though rare) such as allergies, myocarditis, pericarditis, and anaphylaxis have been found among people who received mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 and Moderna SpikeVax) [162] , [163] .…”