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Background: COVID-19 vaccines have been the most rapidly developed vaccines in history and consequently, fears of its safety and efficacy intrigue the minds of the common man. Aims: This study was intended to determine the adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination and thereby reduce vaccine hesitancy in the people. Methods and Materials: An active vaccine safety surveillance study was carried out on health-care workers of a tertiary care center in Central Kerala using a prestructured interview schedule documenting a description of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), time of occurrence, management and outcome of AEFI, knowledge about AEFIs, and fear of COVID-19 vaccination. A telephonic survey was carried out on 475 randomly selected COVID vaccine beneficiaries. Results: Overall, 86% of the participants reported at least one postvaccination symptom. Fever (51.8%), injection-site pain (46.9%), headache (29.3%), myalgia (28.4%), and fatigue/tiredness (25.1%) were the most common symptoms. None of the symptoms were severe/serious to warrant hospital admission. Side effects were more common in females (P = 0.003) and reactogenicity of the COVID-19 vaccine decreased with advancing age (P = 0.001). The vaccine did not have any difference in side effects among those who had previous COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: This study shows that COVID vaccines are safe in the Indian population and the side effects are similar to any other vaccine. It may help to dispel any fear and misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccination and thus maximize the benefit of the nationwide immunization program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 vaccines, we believe, have come to rescue us from the clutches of the dreaded severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With rapid ongoing mutations, it is difficult to predict the effectiveness of seroconversion following vaccination. This study aims to find out the proportion of people with seroconversion following first dose of Covishield vaccine. Methods: Randomly selected health-care workers were followed up for SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies between 28 and 42 days after receiving their first vaccine dose. The VITROS SARS-CoV-2 IgG test (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, USA) with 100% specificity and > 90% sensitivity was used to assess seroconversion. Results: The first dose of vaccine induced seroconversion in 91.7% of beneficiaries. Nearly one-third (30.2%) of them had high antibody titers, and it showed a significant association with female gender (9.6 ± 5.5 vs. 7.6 ± 5.6) and younger age (P = 0.008). In addition, those with previous COVID infection showed a more robust immune response when compared to others (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Seroconversion rate of more than 90% offers a promising hope toward successful pandemic control. In the current scenario, the inability to attain the targeted coverage due to an upsurge in vaccine hesitancy, compounded with only lower proportion of seroconversion in elderly, faster rollout of the vaccines without any age limit, will help achieve the herd threshold more rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]