Ocular Complications after COVID-19 Vaccination, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System

Abstract

In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization. We investigated the ocular adverse event reports in patients reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following vaccination against COVID-19. We searched the VAERS database for U.S. reports among persons who received COVID-19 vaccines between December 2020 and December 2021. Our goal was to analyze and quantify the ocular adverse events submitted to VAERS to provide clinicians and researchers with a broader view of these ocular side effects. During the analysis period, VAERS received 55,313 adverse event reports and, after data cleaning, 6688 reports met the inclusion criteria. Note that 2229 (33.33%) adverse events were classified as cases of eyelid swelling, ocular hyperemia and conjunctivitis, 1785 (26.69%) as blurred vision and 1322 (19.77%) as visual impairment. Females accounted for 73.8% of adverse event reports and the age group between 40 and 59 years had the most frequent adverse events. A higher proportion of these adverse events reported to VAERS was linked with the Janssen and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. At the time of vaccination, a high proportion of patients reported conditions like allergies, hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disease, vascular and other autoimmune diseases. A review of these data suggests a possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular adverse events. Physicians are cautioned not only to be aware of this potential problem, but to check any underlying patient conditions, and to carefully document in VAERS within a few weeks of vaccination. Future COVID-19 vaccine safety studies in healthy subjects would help clarify the vaccine's safety profile.

Keywords: COVID-19; VAERS; adverse events; ocular complications; vaccination.

Figure 1

Frequency of ocular adverse events by age after vaccination against COVID-19 in 6688 reports to the VAERS database, 2020–2021.