Reference:
Wu, Q., Dudley, M. Z., Chen, X., Bai, X., Dong, K., Zhuang, T., Salmon, D., & Yu, H. (2021). Evaluation of the safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines: a rapid review. BMC Medicine, 19, 173. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-02059-5
Summary:
This article presents a rapid review and meta-analysis of the safety profiles of COVID-19 vaccines. It highlights public concerns regarding vaccine safety due to the fast-paced
development and limited post-vaccination follow-up. The review included 87 publications on 19 vaccine candidates across six platforms. It found that inactivated, protein subunit, and DNA vaccines generally had lower rates of local and systemic reactions compared to RNA and non-replicating vector vaccines. The most common adverse effects were injection-site pain, fatigue, and headache, with serious adverse events being infrequent (<0.1%). The findings suggest an acceptable short-term safety profile for these vaccines, although further long-term studies and surveillance are recommended to better understand safety across different populations.