Manifestations of adverse events post Sinovac vaccine immunization at Wirasakti Hospital, Kupang

BACKGROUND: Since it was first discovered, COVID-19 has spread worldwide and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. One of the various efforts made to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. One of the vaccines developed and used by the Indonesian government is the Sinovac vaccine. However, like vaccines in general, there are always vaccine safety problems which are better known as adverse events following immunization (AEFI). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine the AEFI manifestations that occurred in Sinovac vaccination participants at Wirasakti Hospital, Kupang. METHODS: The sample included 51 people, who later became known as research subjects. The criteria for vaccine recipients and instructions for recording AEFI refer to the technical guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health, namely the Decree of the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control number HK.02.02/4/1/2021 regarding technical instructions for implementation of vaccination in the context of combating pandemic COVID-19. RESULTS: The results showed that out of 198 vaccination participants, 15 of them had AEFI and those who had AEFI were women. The AEFI manifestations that occur are dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, cramps in the hands, and trembling hands. All AEFI that occurred are non-serious in nature. CONCLUSION: Sinovac vaccine is relatively safe to use because only a small proportion of respondents (29.4%) have AEFI.