Adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines in the Moroccan adults and children during the pandemic

Abstract

Objectives

During the pandemic of covid-19, Safe and effective vaccines have been urgently needed. Our study aims to investigate the adverse effects of vaccines and their severity factors in people who have been vaccinated in the Rabat region.

Methods

This is a multicentric cross-sectional study conducted in the Rabat region of Morocco from February to December 2021. Consenting subjects aged 12 years and older who presented symptoms after a first, second or third dose of covid 19 vaccine and who received one of the following vaccines were included in the study: AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech. An evaluation form was drawn up. Univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square, Fisher's exact and Mann Whitney tests. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression, and data analysis was performed using Jamovi 2.3.19 and R 4.3.1.

Results

We recruited 489 patients with a median age of 52 years [32.3–66.0], 67.2 % were women,52.6%were vaccinated by AstraZeneca,4.8 % by Pfizer, and 42.6 % by Sinopharm, 84 of cases were severe 17.2 %, the majority of side effects were represented by influenza-like illness, fever, dizziness, vagal shock, skin rash, Covid, cardiac, digestive and neurological manifestations.

In univariate analysis, age and the presence of a previous history were risk factors, and in multivariate analysis only age remained a risk factor for the severity of adverse events.

Conclusion

The study identifies common adverse events and underlines the importance of ongoing surveillance and suggests the need for large samples in order to comprehensively assess the effects of vaccines.