Self-reported side effects of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in Ethiopia, Africa: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

IntroductionEthiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. Ethiopia received most of its COVID-19 vaccines through donations. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is the first to be donated to Ethiopia by the COVAX facility. Healthcare workers were the priority population that received the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. However, there was no nationwide study on the safety of the vaccine in Ethiopia. This study aimed to measure the prevalence and predictors of self-reported side effects of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.Materials and methodsThe study employed a cross-sectional design. A sample of healthcare workers who took Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was drawn from four regions of Ethiopia; namely, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, and Southwest. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, medical anamnesis, COVID-19 related anamnesis, and COVID-19 vaccine anamnesis via telephone interview. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done. The software, IBM SPSS Statistics v21.0, was used for analyses of data.ResultsOut of 384 people, 346 responded (response rate: 90.1%). Female accounted for 34.1% of the respondents. The mean age of the respondents was 31.0 years (Standard Deviation (SD) = 7.4). Nurses accounted for 43.7% of the respondents. The prevalence of at least one local- and systemic-side effect was 50.6 and 44.5%, respectively. The most frequent local- and systemic- side effect were injection site pain and headache, respectively. Both types of side effects mostly subsided in the first 3 days. A third of healthcare workers with side effects took at least one medication. Paracetamol followed by diclofenac sodium were taken by healthcare workers to overcome side effects. There was no independent predictor of local side effect. After controlling for age and chronic diseases, the odds of healthcare workers with COVID-19 like symptoms to experience systemic side effects was 1.38 (Confidence Interval (CI): 1.04–1.82) times more than that of healthcare workers without COVID-19 like symptoms.ConclusionsThe prevalence of local- and systemic-side effects of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was modest. As the symptoms were mostly common in the first 3 days, it is preferable to monitor healthcare workers at least in the first 3 days following the administration of the vaccine.

Follow-Up of Side Effects throughout the Entire Course of Coronavirus Vaccination

“…Similar to the findings of several published studies in Jordan or worldwide [ 8 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], the most commonly reported side effects following COVID-19 vaccination, regardless of the type of vaccine, are fatigue, fever, headache, localized pain, and myalgia. In the present study, the severity of side effects was assessed by the questionnaire.…”

A First Report on Side-Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines among General Population in Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

“…Mallhi et al conducted a study on people with underlying diseases where the use of Pfizer vaccines was more profound [ 18 ]. Another study from Ethiopia indicated that around half of the study participants who had received AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines experienced at least one local and systematic side-effect [ 21 ]. The inconsistency of these results with our findings might be attributed to the disparities in the study population i.e., healthcare professionals vs. the general population.…”

“…It is interesting to note that most of these side-effects appeared within 6 h of vaccine administration and waned within 48 h. These results are consistent with the findings of Mallhi et al [ 18 ]. Yesuf et al reported the waning of side-effects within 72 h, and this prolonged duration might be associated with the study population [ 21 ], as healthcare professionals perform more vigilant monitoring of side-effects than the general population. It might be possible that people considered alleviating the severity of side-effects as a resolving point in our study.…”

Physical side effects of covid-19 vaccines reported among healthcare workers in Sudan: A cross-sectional study

“…Another study conducted in Slovakia among health workers did not differ much from what was mentioned in previous studies, where the side effects of the vaccine were injection site pain (85.2%), fatigue (54.2%), headache (34.3%), muscle pain (28.4%), and chills (26.4%) [16]. Several studies around the world nd that muscle pain in injection sites is the most prevalent side effect symptom of vaccines [17][18][19][20][21][22]. The study conducted by Zare in Iran [23] revealed that Pain and tenderness at the injection site, fever, and muscle pain are the most common side effect and this coincides with all the studies around the world that have been conducted so far among healthcare staff, which con rmed that the vaccine is safe and has no serious side effects.…”