Investigating the side effects of covid-19 vaccines in Southern Iran: a cross-sectional study

The Covid-19 disease is a newly emerging disease, and the covid-19 vaccine is one of the necessities to prevent this disease. The present study aimed to Investigate the side effects of covid-19 vaccines in southern Iran. We used convenience sampling to conduct this cross-sectional study on 647 people living in cities under the coverage in southern Iran, Kerman. The data collection tool included a researcher-maid questionnaire of vaccine symptoms and signs. The results were analyzed by SPSS software version 24 and ANOVA, and chi-square tests. The mean age of the participants was 40.19±15.20. The results indicated that 431 people (66.6%) reported post-vaccination side effects, with 18.23% of them having severe side effects. We noticed the most severe side effects in AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik, and Bharat. Fever, headache, and pain at the injection site were the most common side effects after vaccination respectively, which had a statistically significant relationship with all types of vaccines (P=0.001). The side effects differed in the types of vaccines and most of the vaccines had mild to moderate side effects. People with B blood type showed the most severe side effects while those with AB showed the lowest rate of side effects. Therefore, the injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine in blood group B should be done with more caution. And it is recommended more attention should be paid to blood groups B and A in the injection of Covid-19 vaccines. also, health officials and the government should plan appropriate educational strategies to increase public knowledge and the importance of vaccines in eradicating viral infections