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. 2022 Sep 18;14(9):e29306.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.29306. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Evaluation of Short-Term Symptoms Associated With COVID-19 Vaccines Used Among Adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Fares K Alrowdhan  1 , Abdulnasser Alwably  1 , Abdulaziz S Altala  1 , Hassan Alfaraj  1 , Mhd Noor Farawaty  1 , Rakan S Shaheen  1 , Suliman A Alenazi  1 , Einas M Yousef  2   3
Affiliations

Evaluation of Short-Term Symptoms Associated With COVID-19 Vaccines Used Among Adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Fares K Alrowdhan et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Objectives: Several government-sponsored reporting systems have stated mild to moderate side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. However, patient-reported data on COVID-19 vaccine-associated adverse effects in adolescents are lacking. Our objective was to assess the short-term side effects of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 or Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccinations among teenagers in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted among individuals aged 12-18 years old who received one of the two mentioned vaccines between July 2021 and March 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Results: The most common short-term side effects reported for COVID-19 vaccines among teenagers in our study were fatigue, pain at the site of injection, fever, chills, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Female participants, individuals who had a history of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and those who received two doses of the vaccine are at higher risk to develop side effects after getting the vaccine. Importantly, asthmatic participants have a higher incidence of COVID-19 vaccine side effects when compared to those with no history of chronic diseases.

Conclusion: Our findings might enhance public trust in the COVID-19 vaccine, which could speed up the immunization procedure.

Keywords: covid-19; moderna mrna-1273 vaccine; pfizer-biontech vaccine; side effects; teenagers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination adverse effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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