OBJECTIVES:

It is generally accepted that the world will not return to the pre-pandemic normally situation until safe and effective vaccines become available. However, the rare and unknown adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) are not usually detected in the clinical trials. Thus, monitoring the safety of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in real-world population is essential. Therefore, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) performed a post-marketing safety surveillance of AEFIs following administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

METHODS:

A prospective cohort study conducted and followed subjects who received COVID-19 vaccines from the first day of vaccination for seven days after the first and second doses, then biweekly for three months. All information from the vaccinee (demographic information, vaccine type and AEFIs) were collected by phone through a standardized online questionnaire. Baseline characteristics and AEFIs were analyzed descriptively by SPSS software. AEFIs classified according to medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA).

RESULTS:

544 subjects of 8867 agreed to be part of the study. Among them, 218 subjects completed the study. Out of 218, 87 (39.91%) individual received Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 45(20.64%) received Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, 5(2.3%) individual received Moderna vaccine, and 81 (37.2%) received two different COVID-19 vaccines. The reported events were categorized to system organ class (SOC) according to MedDRA. The most reported SOCs were skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders (n=66 with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, n=34 with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, n=5 with Moderna vaccine), nervous system disorder(n=20with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, n=18with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, n=3with Moderna vaccine) infections and infestations (n=23 with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, n=33 with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, n=4 with Moderna vaccine), musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (n=53with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, n=46 with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, n=7 with Moderna vaccine). Only 10 (4.6%) cases were serious and required medical intervention.

CONCLUSIONS:

The preliminary results shows the short-term safety profiles of included COVID-19 vaccines are acceptable in Saudi Arabia.