Side Effects and Perceptions Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Jordan: A Randomized, Cross-Sectional Study Implementing Machine Learning for Predicting Severity of Side Effects

Abstract

Background: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic, there was no doubt that vaccination is the ideal protocol to tackle it. Within a year, a few COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and authorized. This unparalleled initiative in developing vaccines created many uncertainties looming around the efficacy and safety of these vaccines. This study aimed to assess the side effects and perceptions following COVID-19 vaccination in Jordan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing an online survey targeted toward Jordan inhabitants who received any COVID-19 vaccines. Data were statistically analyzed and certain machine learning (ML) tools, including multilayer perceptron (MLP), eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF), and K-star were used to predict the severity of side effects. Results: A total of 2213 participants were involved in the study after receiving Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and other vaccines (38.2%, 31%, 27.3%, and 3.5%, respectively). Generally, most of the post-vaccination side effects were common and non-life-threatening (e.g., fatigue, chills, dizziness, fever, headache, joint pain, and myalgia). Only 10% of participants suffered from severe side effects; while 39% and 21% of participants had moderate and mild side effects, respectively. Despite the substantial variations between these vaccines in the presence and severity of side effects, the statistical analysis indicated that these vaccines might provide the same protection against COVID-19 infection. Finally, around 52.9% of participants suffered before vaccination from vaccine hesitancy and anxiety; while after vaccination, 95.5% of participants have advised others to get vaccinated, 80% felt more reassured, and 67% believed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe in the long term. Furthermore, based on the type of vaccine, demographic data, and side effects, the RF, XGBoost, and MLP gave both high accuracies (0.80, 0.79, and 0.70, respectively) and Cohen’s kappa values (0.71, 0.70, and 0.56, respectively). Conclusions: The present study confirmed that the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and getting vaccinated makes people more reassured. Most of the post-vaccination side effects are mild to moderate, which are signs that body’s immune system is building protection. ML can also be used to predict the severity of side effects based on the input data; predicted severe cases may require more medical attention or even hospitalization.

Potential adverse effects of COVID19 vaccines among Iraqi population; a comparison between the three available vaccines in Iraq; a retrospective cross-sectional study

“…Additionally, the side effects were more severe among AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine recipients ( P value < 0.0001). In line to the present study, a study from Jordan, a neighboring country, found that the number and severity of side effects were associated with the type of vaccine [ 21 ]. Another study by Mathioudakis et al.…”

Side effects and perceptions following Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccination

“…Most of studies have assessed mainly the post-vaccination adverse reactions of the Pfizer–BioNTech, Moderna, and Astrazeneca vaccines ( Kadali et al, 2021 , Chapin-Bardales et al, 2021 , Menni et al, 2021 , Riad et al, 2021 , El-Shitany et al, 2021 ), while only two studies focus on Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine ( Jayadevan et al, 2021 , Hatmal et al, 2021 ), There are no published studies yet that have focused on Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine side effects in UAE.…”

“…Injection site pain symptom reported in several literatures on vaccines’ side effects ( Jayadevan et al, 2021 , Hatmal et al, 2021 , Riad et al, 2021 , El-Shitany et al, 2021 ), injection in a relaxed muscle leads to less pain compared to a tensed one; therefore, the researchers recommended to lower the patient's arm that will be injected to reduce the pain. In addition, vaccines in in situ should be keep it in a low temperature, including Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine that should store at normal refrigeration temperature, and if injected without optimal warming up, this may increase the probability of pain of the injection site symptom.…”

“…Published data to support adverse reaction of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine are lacking, two studies only focus on Sinopharm COVID-19vaccine ( Jayadevan et al, 2021 , Hatmal et al, 2021 ), moreover, fear of the new vaccine is a driver of vaccine hesitancy ( Riad et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The knowledge about what happens post vaccination in the actual world among the general population is still modest, Thus, by describing what to expect after 1 st and 2 nd dose of vaccination will help in lowering the apprehension about this type of vaccines, increase the public confidence in the vaccines, safety, and accelerate the vaccination process against COVID-19. ( Jayadevan et al, 2021 , Hatmal et al, 2021 ). The results of this study will be reassuring to those who are fearful of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.…”