Safety Profile of COVID-19 Vaccination among Adolescents in India - An Initial Experience

Poornima  Tiwari; Amit  Kumar; Jugal  Kishore; Anirudh  Saxena; Pranav  Ish; Ravindra Nath; SJH Adolescent Vaccination Working Group

Poornima Tiwari Director Professor, Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Amit Kumar Senior Medical Officer, Department of Pediatrics, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Jugal Kishore Director Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Anirudh Saxena Resident, Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Pranav Ish Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Ravindra Nath Post-Graduate Resident, Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
SJH Adolescent Vaccination Working Group Deepak Pandey (Resident, Department of Pharmacology), Nitesh Gupta (Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), Shilpee Kumar (Professor, Department of Microbiology), Arshdeep Kaur (Senior Resident, Department of Pathology), Neeraj Kumar Gupta (Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), Rohit Kumar (Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), Manu Madan (Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), AJ Mahendran (Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), RK Srivastava (Professor, Department of Plastic Surgery and Additional Medical Superintendent) of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India

Keywords: COVID-19, COVAXIN, Adolscent

Abstract

Introduction: The government of India announced a nationwide mass vaccination drive for adolescents 15-17 years of age from 3rd January 2022. This announcement was considered a welcome measure by
public health experts to increase vaccination coverage throughout the nation. This study was undertaken to understand the safety profile of COVID-19 vaccination among initial adolescent recipients.
Methodology: The first 500 such beneficiaries (adolescents of age 15-18 years) who received COVAXIN were identified. All the vaccination beneficiaries were prospectively taken in the study. These children were telephonically called and assessed for AEFI occurring up to 2 weeks.
Results: Among the first 500 beneficiaries vaccinated over the first week of the vaccination drive, 68 (only 13.6%) subjects developed an AEFI. These AEFI were all after the first dose of the vaccine.
Conclusion: Our initial experience is that COVAXIN is a relatively safe vaccine in adolescents with the majority of AEFI being mild. It is necessary for documentation and knowledge of the AEFI profile as this will help decrease vaccine hesitancy and promote acceptance.

How to cite this article:
Tiwari P, Kumar A, Kishore J, Saxena A, Ish P, Nath R. Safety Profile of COVID-19 Vaccination among
Adolescents in India - An Initial Experience. Epidem Int. 2022;7(2):13-16.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2455.7048.202208

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