ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON COVID-19 VACCINE REPORTED BY KABUL UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES STUDENTS, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN.
Keywords:
Adverse effects, Vaccine, COVID-19, Janssen COVID-19 vaccineAbstract
Background: Coronaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses, which have caused global pandemic and outbreak. HCoV infects humans and causes respiratory diseases with mild to severe consequences. Varying degrees of Janssen vaccine adverse effects may be experienced by recipients. pain, redness, swelling at injection site, fever, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, nausea and vomiting are the common side effects of this vaccine and a rare side effect is thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS).
The aim of this study is to assess the adverse effects of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine among KUMS students.
Methods & Material: An interview- based, observational retrospective study was conducted to assess adverse effects of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine among KUMS students. Students were asked to report all the adverse effects they suffered within the first week of vaccination. Interrelation of the adverse effects was analyzed with the age and sex of all the participants. The population had no history of previous COVID-19 vaccines.
Result: The most common adverse effects of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine was pain at injection site. Most of the participants reported headache, fever and chills after taking single dose of Janssen Vaccine. The rare side effects of this vaccine were Anxiety, dizziness, arm weakness, hypotension and chest pain. Prevalence of the side effects was higher in age group <20 than age group ≥20. Those effects were mild to moderate in severity and there were no hospitalization reports. There was no case of severe adverse effect or Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS). Adverse effects were more severe in participants with history of other SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Conclusion: Participants reported that the adverse effects of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine were mild to moderate in severity, with no severe cases and a short duration.
