Following the vaccination drive, a recent survey outlined the post-vaccination experience of the vaccinated. Accordingly, 5396 healthcare workers actively took part in the survey.
Intent of the Survey
The short time taken to develop the vaccine has seeded fear among the people. Also, the fastened clinical trial does not support the COVID-19 vaccine. Thus, rising the hesitancy among people. So, the survey would provide the vaccine receivers with a clear picture of the post-vaccination experience. Thereby eradicating all the misinformation and reduce vaccine hesitancy.
The Survey Participants
Over 5396 people took the online survey over a period of 7 days from 29 January to 4 February. Of which, 85.8% of survey respondents were doctors. Subsequently, the rest of the participants included nurses, technicians, and other health workers. Also, 56% of the respondents were male, and 46% female respondents.
The Vaccine
Of the 5396 respondents, 5128 received Covishield from Astra- Oxford manufactured by Serum Institute of India. Followed by, 180 respondents received Covaxin from Bharat Biotech of India. Finally, only 0.8% received Pfizer and Sino pharm vaccine from other countries. So, the majority of the people have received Covishield or Covaxin.
Post- Vaccination Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms reported were tiredness, myalgia, fever, headache, pain at the injection site, joint pain, nausea, and diarrhoea. Over 66% of the survey respondents reported at least one of the said symptoms. The occurrence of the symptoms are as follows:
- Tiredness-45%
- Myalhia-44%
- Fever-34%
- Headache-28%
- Pain at injection site-27%
- Joint pain-12%
- Nausea-8%
- Diarrhoea-3%
Note that, none of the symptoms were severe nor required hospitalization.
Occurrence of Symptoms Varies with Age Group
Of the 5396 survey respondents, 947 were over the age of 60. The survey confirmed that none of them reported any severe outcomes following vaccination. Further, it showed that the chances of occurrence of symptoms decreased with advancing age. Furthermore, the onset of symptoms was later for respondents with age 70 or more. It reported that respondents with age 70 to 90 experienced symptoms after 13 hours while younger people experienced symptoms after 10 hours of vaccination.
Few Highlights of the Survey Report
- Majority of the survey respondents were not affected by symptoms and could attend work the next day.
- The symptoms lasted for a maximum of 48 hours. Only 6% of the respondents experienced symptoms after 48 hours.
- Post-COVID vaccination symptoms were reported by women (74.7%) more than men.
- Post history with COVID-19 did not affect the vaccination
The Efficacy of the Vaccine
The survey outlines the post-COVID effects on the respondents. However, the efficacy of the vaccine cannot be determined until the second (booster) dose. Thus, the survey does not conclude on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In all, the survey highlights that the side effects of the vaccine are minimal. Also, it emphasizes that vaccination does cause any life-altering damages to the respondents.