Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Public Health , BNT162 Vaccine , COVID-19 Vaccines , Humans , RNA, Messenger , SARS-CoV-2 , VaccinationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Comirnaty® was the first COVID-19 vaccine available for the vaccination campaign of healthcare workers in Italy. With the aim of assessing vaccine safety, we conducted a cross-sectional survey administrating a voluntary-based questionnaire on adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) in San Raffaele Hospital, Milano, Italy. METHODS: From 4th January 2021 to 27th April 2021, we collected 2,659 questionnaires (response rate: 24,5%). We analyzed data, reporting AEFIs by gender, age, self-reported severity, type, time of insurgence and duration, and estimating relative-risk ratios (RRR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The most reported symptoms were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, myalgia, chills, fever, and arthralgia. Severe systemic reactions were more frequent after receiving the second dose (RRR 6.25, 95% CI 4.57-8.55), in women (RRR 3.33, 95% CI 2.30-4.82), and less frequent in individuals aged 60 or more (RRR 0.26, 95% CI 0.14-0.49). In addition, we noted a wide range of adverse events of special interest (AESIs). CONCLUSIONS: Consistently with clinical trials and pharmacovigilance surveillance, AEFIs were frequent, but severe ones were uncommon, supporting the massive implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and providing valuable data for a risk profiling of vaccinees. (www.actabiomedica.it).
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Vaccines , COVID-19 , Vaccination , BNT162 Vaccine , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19 Vaccines/adverse effects , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Hospitals, Teaching , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Male , RNA, Messenger , Vaccination/adverse effectsABSTRACT
One week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak a global health emergency we conducted a survey to explore knowledge and attitudes on 2019-nCoV, recently renamed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in a large cohort of hospital staff. A representative sample of 2,046 hospital staff of a large university hospital in northern Italy (54% healthcare workers and 46% administrative staff, overall response rate: 25%) was administered an online questionnaire: overall there is good knowledge on 2019-nCoV control measures. The mean of correct answers for questions on general aspects of 2019-nCoV epidemic was 71.6% for HCWs and 61.2% for non-HCWs. The mean of correct answers for questions on 2019-nCoV patient management was 57.8% among HCWs. Nevertheless, on recommended precautions, also among healthcare workers there is still much to do in order to promote effective control measures and correct preventive behaviours at the individual level.