Authors: Yvonne Valerie Yolande Voumbo Matoumona Mavoungou, Ange Clauvel Niama, Gilbert Ndziessi, Ghislain Pandzou, Annette Bono, Paul-Macaire Ossou-Nguiet.
Introduction: All countries have embarked on vaccinating populations against COVID-19 to reduce the incidence and severe forms of this disease. Several vaccines are used and the risk of occurrence of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) is not to be neglected. The objective of this study is to describe the AEFI of COVID-19 vaccination in Brazzaville.
Population and Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in Brazzaville at all AEFI reporting points of the Expanded Programme on Immunization in the period from March 25th to October 15th 2021. A standardized notification sheet of AEFI cases occurring after vaccination against COVID-19, validated by the WHO, collected the data. These have been analyzed with R Studio software version 4.0.3. Qualitative variables were expressed in numbers and percentages. Quantitative variables were expressed as average, standard deviation, maximum and minimum. Pearson's Chi-2 test and ANOVA's were used to compare variables.
Results: The average age of people with AEFI was 46 years ± 12.6 years; men were more affected than women non-significantly (p-value=0.063). AEFI frequencies were 56 per 10,000 people vaccinated. Mild AEFI such as joint and muscle pain (63.07%), headache (59.70%) fever (55.84%) were the most recorded while severe forms were rare. These AEFI appeared most often in the first week of administration of the COVID-19 vaccine and had a favorable evolution in 90.69% of cases.
Conclusion: This study revealed that vaccination against COVID-19, can cause AEFI. These are infrequent and in most cases they are mild forms. High vaccination coverage must be a priority objective to better counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
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