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. 2021 Aug 26;9(9):950.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines9090950.

Qualitative Assessment of Early Adverse Effects of Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccines by Telephone Interviews

Sami Abu-Halaweh  1 , Rami Alqassieh  2 , Aiman Suleiman  3 , Mohammed Qussay Al-Sabbagh  4 , Maram AbuHalaweh  5 , Duaa AlKhader  6 , Rozan Abu-Nejem  7 , Roa'a Nabulsi  7 , Mohammad Al-Tamimi  7 , Mallak Alwreikat  7 , Mazen Alnouti  1 , Bayan Suleiman  1 , Moh'd Yousef  1 , Mohammad El Jarbeh  1 , Abdel-Ellah Al-Shudifat  7 , Ahmad Alqassieh  8 , Isam Bsisu  1
Affiliations

Qualitative Assessment of Early Adverse Effects of Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccines by Telephone Interviews

Sami Abu-Halaweh et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Vaccines are considered the best approach for countering the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we compared early side effects associated with vaccination with the Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. Participants of this observational cohort were interviewed based on semi-structured telephone interviews, with enquiries about side effects that developed after vaccination with each dose of these vaccines. Overall, 1004 participants were enrolled, of which 51.1% received Sinopharm vaccine and 48.9% received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. After the first dose, 46.3% of participants had an adverse reaction, with injection site pain most commonly being reported (33.2%). Participants who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had significantly higher frequencies of all types of adverse reactions (p < 0.01), with no significant differences in the duration of adverse reactions between the two vaccines. Regarding the second dose, 48.6% of participants had adverse reactions, with injection site pain being most commonly reported (29%). Those who received the Pfizer vaccine reported higher frequencies of all adverse reactions (p < 0.01). However, a longer duration of adverse reactions was seen among Sinopharm vaccine recipients as compared to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients (p = 0.01). In conclusion, early adverse effects are reported following all types of vaccines but these are more likely to be encountered following the administration of new-generation vaccines. These side effects are mostly mild and treatable.

Keywords: COVID-19; Pfizer–BioNTech; Sinopharm; pandemic; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Improvement time of the adverse reactions following the first dose of the vaccine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Improvement time of the adverse reactions following the second dose of the vaccine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The frequency of adverse reactions after the first dose of COVID 19 vaccine.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The frequency of adverse reactions after the second dose of the COVID 19 vaccine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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