In December 2019, a new coronavirus disease called COVID-19 emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. After three months, a pandemic was declared. By February 2023 this disease had already infected more than 650 million people worldwide and claimed over 6.5 million lives. In most cases the virus causes a mild form of the disease, but some infected individuals require intensive care, which places a significant burden on national healthcare systems. The only solution for ending the pandemic were vaccines, which protect against the disease and its consequences, and contribute to establishing herd immunity. Unfortunately, their rapid development, in addition to a lack of information, adverse events, and distrust in the government, has raised concerns about their safety for many people.
In this master's thesis, we analysed data on short-term side effects of mRNA Comirnaty vaccines that occurred in healthcare workers in Slovenia. The study included 431 individuals, and the data was obtained from a questionnaire that was part of a larger international study called CoVaST. The aim of the study is to evaluate the short-term and long-term side effects as well as the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. We processed the data using various statistical tests with SPSS Statistics software and evaluated the incidence of side effects. We investigated differences in incidence between age groups and genders and looked for connections with other potential factors. Based on this, we found that the majority of respondents experienced at least one side effect and that local side effects were more common than systemic side effects. Local side effects occurred after both vaccine doses, while systemic adverse reactions were more frequent after the second dose. Most side effects lasted for two days. Older age had a significant effect on the lower incidence and intensity of side effects. Women had a higher intensity of side effects and a higher risk of individual side effects. In addition to age and gender, body mass index, smoking and previous infection with COVID-19 were also identified as potential factors influencing a higher or lower incidence of certain side effects.
We aspire that our findings will promote further research into side effects and that our findings can help to address concerns that may contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
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