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Review
. 2022 Apr 12;10(4):596.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines10040596.

Safety of Global SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines, a Meta-Analysis

Linyi Chen  1 , Xianming Cai  1 , Tianshuo Zhao  1 , Bingfeng Han  1 , Mingzhu Xie  1 , Jiahao Cui  2 , Jiayu Zhang  3 , Chao Wang  4 , Bei Liu  4 , Qingbin Lu  4 , Fuqiang Cui  4
Affiliations
Review

Safety of Global SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines, a Meta-Analysis

Linyi Chen et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines were developed in only a short amount of time and were widely distributed. We conducted this meta-analysis to understand the safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. (2) Methods: We searched the corresponding literature published from 1 January 2020 to 20 October 2021. Information of adverse events (AEs) of each selected work was collected. The quality and bias of studies was evaluated, and meta-analysis was carried out by using Stata 17.0. (3) Results: Totally, 11,451 articles were retrieved, and 53 of them were included for analysis. The incidence rate of AEs was 20.05-94.48%. The incidence rate of vascular events increased after viral vector vaccination, while the incidence rate of vascular events decreased after mRNA vaccination. Viral vector vaccine had a higher AE rate compared to mRNA vaccines and inactivated vaccines. In most circumstances, the incidence of AEs was higher in older people, female and after the second dose. The sensitivity of meta-analysis was acceptable; however, the literature was subject to a certain publication bias. (4) Conclusions: The safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was acceptable. The incidence of allergic symptoms and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular symptoms was low. Viral vector vaccine had a higher risk of leading to thrombosis events. The understanding of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine AEs should be enhanced, so as to promote the vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19; adverse events; meta-analysis; safety; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Funnel plot of AEs incidence rate of mRNA vaccine in observational study. For observations of viral vector vaccine and inactivated vaccine were under 10, funnel plots were not used.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Literature screening process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias graph.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plots of AEs in observational studies. (A) Forest plot of viral vector vaccine; (B) forest plot of AEs of mRNA vaccine in observational study; (C) forest plot of inactivated vaccine in observational study.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The incidence of adverse events (AEs) of different vaccines and population. (A) The incidence of AEs of different vaccines; (B) the incidence of dose-specific AEs with mRNA vaccine or inactivated vaccine inoculation; (C) the incidence of age-specific AEs with viral vector vaccine or mRNA vaccine inoculation; and (D) the incidence of gender-specific AEs with inactivated vaccine inoculation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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