"Side effects of Vero cell vaccination against Covid-19 among medical students of Nepalgunj Medical College"-A Post Vaccination survey (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly transmissible virus causing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Its key symptoms include fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Vaccine plays a significant role in controlling infectious disease, and reduction of the use of health service leaving more resources for the treatment of other diseases.2 Vero Cell is an inactivated vaccine against COVID-19 manufactured by Sinopharm Company of China and recommended for people above 18 years by the World Health Organization. It is administered in two doses of 0.5 ml, 14-28 days apart. Methods and findings: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students and intern doctors of Nepalgunj Medical College after receiving ethical approval from the institutional review committee of this college. Demographic features of the study population and the frequency and percentages of side effects among the population who received the vaccines were calculated along with the duration of symptoms. All undergraduate medical students and intern doctors of Nepalgunj Medical College who received two doses of the Vero Cell vaccine against COVID-19 were involved in the study. Those who failed to give written consent and those who were not willing to receive both doses of vaccine were excluded. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. The eligible participants were provided with the questionnaire twice, after administration of each dose of vaccine. Collected data were entered in structured Pro-forma and analyzed statistically in Microsoft Excel 2019 MSO (Version 2021). About 75% of the participants had one or more symptoms after the first dose of the vaccine, which reduced to 62% after the second dose. Symptoms were more in males after the first dose (76% vs. 72%), but the reverse was seen after the second dose (54% vs. 77%). Pain at the injection site was the most commonly reported side effect (27%) followed by myalgia (20%). No individuals receiving both doses of vaccine had diarrhea, difficulty in breathing, tingling sensation, or anaphylactic reaction. A higher percentage of females experienced pain at the injection site after the second dose over the first than males. However, males experienced fatigue more than females after every dose. Pain at the injection site and Myalgia were common symptoms to start early, within 12 hours post-vaccination. However, fatigue was seen maximally 24 hrs post-vaccination. Fever was seen in 7% of participants within 12 hours of vaccination. Cough and sore throat as side effects persisted up to 2 weeks after vaccination. The main limitation of the study is the low sample size. Conclusions: Pain at the injection site was the most common AEFI followed by Myalgia with other insignificant effects. There were no life-threatening side effects. A larger study on the general population including all age groups is highly recommended to detect all spectrum of side effects.