Safety and Adverse Effects Related to COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccines: A Systematic Review

SeyedAlinaghi, SeyedAhmad; Pashaei, Ava; Tantuoyir, Marcarious M.; Karimi, Amirali; Mojdeganlou, Hengameh; Nazarian, Newsha; Vahedi, Farzin; Afzalian, Arian; Shobeiri, Parnian; Dashti, Mohsen; Ghasemzadeh, Afsaneh; Mirzapour, Pegah; Nooralioghli Parikhani, Sahar; Mehraeen, Esmaeil

Safety and Adverse Effects Related to COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccines: A Systematic Review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi ¹

Ava Pashaei ²

Marcarious M. Tantuoyir ³^{, 4}

Amirali Karimi ³

Hengameh Mojdeganlou ⁵

Newsha Nazarian ⁶

Farzin Vahedi ³

Arian Afzalian ³

Parnian Shobeiri ³

Mohsen Dashti ⁷

Afsaneh Ghasemzadeh ⁷

Pegah Mirzapour ¹

Sahar Nooralioghli Parikhani ³

Esmaeil Mehraeen ⁸

¹ Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

² School of Nursing, The British Columbia University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

³ School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Biomedical Engineering Unit, University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC), Accra, Ghana

⁵ Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

⁶ School of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁷ Department of Radiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

⁸ Department of Health Information Technology, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran

Abstract

Background: There have been safety concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccines because of their unprecedented speed of development. Therefore, systematic reviews are necessary to address these concerns and reduce public hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccines. This study aims to systematically review the reported adverse events related to viral vector COVID-19 vaccines.
Materials and Methods: We performed a systematic search in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane on September 15^th, 2021. This study adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. The records underwent two-step title/abstract and full-text screenings, and the eligible records were included in the data extraction process. We used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for the Bias Assessment of included articles.
Results: The adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccines, including the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, and the Sputnik V vaccine were included in this review. Among these vaccines, the AstraZeneca has presented enormous side effects with most being systemic and a few sporadic cases of life-threatening events such as thrombosis and capillary leak syndrome and even death in a few cases. Prominent systemic side effects of the adenovirus vaccines include fever, fatigue, malaise, arthralgia, myalgia, sweating, and dizziness. Erythema, swelling, tenderness, itching, and numbness at the injection site are the most common local reactions.
Conclusion: It appeared that the frequency of serious adverse events is negligible, and vaccination to prevent severe COVID-19 and mortality has greater benefits than adverse events in the general population.

Keywords

Adenovirus vector

Adverse effects

Adverse events

COVID-19

COVID-19 Vaccines

SARS-CoV-2

Subjects