Self-reported post-vaccination side effects of each of the three rounds of COVID-19 vaccinations: the case in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the systemic short-term post-COVID-19 vaccine adverse events between three rounds of vaccination in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, to compare the incidence of these side effects between the three vaccine rounds. The present study was a prospective survey-based cross-sectional, conducted during the period of 1/4/2022 to 30/6/2022. The study has recruited all staff and students who have been vaccinated with all three doses of COVID-19 in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The survey included three sections; The first section was participants' characteristics; The second section was a self-reported survey on 32 prespecified side effects; and the third section was data related to the type of COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 582 cases were analysed for the study. overall, most respondents were reporting no side effects across the three COVID-19 vaccine rounds. Meanwhile, eight side effect variables (fever, chills, fatigue, skipped meals, headache, nausea, sore throat and low mood) appear to be more manifested among the study sample to a small extent. However, these side effects are usually mild. When each side effect was further evaluated during the three rounds of protocol, sore throat had the highest median rating at the first round of vaccination. The result found that only the male gender was a significant negative predictor of the side effects after vaccine rounds. Our results indicated that the COVID-19 vaccine is well tolerated, and safe, most post-vaccination adverse effects in the three rounds are, generally mild in severity and rare with a lower frequency and number of reported side effects in males. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship between the possible health risk factors and COVID-19 side effects.