The Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) of Sinovac Vaccine among Lecturer and Teaching Staff at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Information about the incidence of adverse events after the administration of COVID-19 vaccine has an important effect on the level of public confidence in the vaccination program in Indonesia. The rejection occurred was caused by the lack of knowledge about the benefits of the vaccination as well as the adverse events. Therefore, this study aims to determine the vaccine safety in response to the community’s vaccination hesitancy.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey study, was carried out from March to April 2021 by collecting data on the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) of Sinovac vaccination among lecturers and teaching staff at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta. The vaccines were injected twice, with an interval of 2-4 weeks.

Results: A total of 518 participants filled in the questionnaire. Furthermore, pain at injection site fatigue, headache, drowsiness, chills, and hunger were the most common AEFI after the first and second doses. All the AEFI that occurred were generally mild, and none of them needed special medical treatment or to be hospitalized. The AEFI disappeared within a week and were resolved without additional problems.

Conclusions: The data in this study showed the occurrence of lower AEFI of first and second doses immunization using the Sinovac vaccine. All the reactions were mild and disappeared within a week without further problems. These results are expected to increase public confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccination without significant adverse events, thereby increasing the coverage of the program.