Abstract
What did you want to address in this study?
We wanted to compare how frequently a selected list of adverse events occurred in the 7 days after people received their first and second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to background levels, using real-world data from general practices in England. We also examined differences in safety profiles between the vaccine brands.
What have we learnt from this study?
We found that the rates of general practitioner consultations for these adverse events decreased by 3–7% after two doses of Comirnaty or Vaxzevria in the 7 days after vaccination, but increased by 20% after the first dose of Spikevax. The specific types of adverse events reported differed slightly by vaccine brand.
What are the implications of your findings for public health?
The rates of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination appear to be generally low across the three vaccines used in the United Kingdom. Using computerised medical records to study patterns of vaccine adverse events will be important in the future as COVID-19 becomes endemic and ongoing vaccination is required.
We wanted to compare how frequently a selected list of adverse events occurred in the 7 days after people received their first and second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to background levels, using real-world data from general practices in England. We also examined differences in safety profiles between the vaccine brands.
What have we learnt from this study?
We found that the rates of general practitioner consultations for these adverse events decreased by 3–7% after two doses of Comirnaty or Vaxzevria in the 7 days after vaccination, but increased by 20% after the first dose of Spikevax. The specific types of adverse events reported differed slightly by vaccine brand.
What are the implications of your findings for public health?
The rates of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination appear to be generally low across the three vaccines used in the United Kingdom. Using computerised medical records to study patterns of vaccine adverse events will be important in the future as COVID-19 becomes endemic and ongoing vaccination is required.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Eurosurveillance |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 19 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:SdeL is Director of the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) and has received funding from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi and Seqirus and been members of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Seqirus all through his university. The AstraZeneca studies include ATTEST a study of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia, SdeL is PI and FDRH Co-PI. DTB is on secondment to the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) and has been a member or observer on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and many of its subgroups. RKO is a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Technology Appraisal Committee (TAC), and has served as a paid consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, providing methodological advice and support unrelated to this research. AS is a member of the Scottish Government’s CMO COVID-19 Advisory Group and its Standing Committee on Pandemics; he was a member of AstraZeneca’s Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Taskforce. All AS’ roles are unremunerated. All other authors have no conflict of interest in relation to this work.
Funding Information:
This research is part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant ref MC_PC_20029, MC_PC_20058).
Funding Information:
This research is part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant ref MC_PC_20029, MC_PC_20058). Patients and practices in Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) who agree to data sharing for research and surveillance. EMIS, TPP, In-Practice Systems and Wellbeing for collaboration in pseudonymised data extraction. FDRH acknowledges support as Director of NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Oxford Thames Valley and as Theme Leader in the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. We would also like to thank the support team of the Data and Connectivity: COVID-19 Vaccines Pharmacovigilance study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). All rights reserved.
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This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control at https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.3.2200195. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.