Reported COVID-19 vaccines side effects among Jordanian population: a cross sectional study

Concerns about the safety and side effects of coronavirus SARS CoV2 vaccines have been raised among many communities worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe the side effects reported by vaccinated individuals in Jordan. A cross-sectional survey was used to recruit responses from participants who were vaccinated with either one dose or both doses of any of the administered vaccines in Jordan (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinopharm). A total of 1,086 participants were enrolled in the study. Most of participants have not been infected with SARS CoV2 before receiving the vaccine (77.2%). Larger proportion of the study population received Pfizer vaccine (40.6%) followed by the AstraZeneca vaccine (33.0%), and Sinopharm vaccine (26.4%). Side effects after receiving the first dose of the vaccine were reported by most participants (89.9%) and included pain at the injection site (78.4%), fatigue (51.8%), myalgia (37.6%), headache (33.1%), and chills (32.3%). To a lesser extent, there were gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea (15.1%), loss of appetite (9.4%), and diarrhea (6.4%). More side effects were significantly associated with AstraZeneca vaccine (P < .001). Only one case for each of second dose of Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines reported that their side effects required hospitalization. In this study, we found that people in Jordan experienced more side effects with AstraZeneca vaccine followed by Pfizer vaccine and the least one is Sinopharm vaccine. Our study showed that these side effects are not severe and should not be an obstacle against the successful control of the pandemic in Jordan.