• Armando Perrotta, Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Wael Saade, Fabio Miraldi, Andrea Morelli, Antonino G Marullo, Elena Cavarretta, Roberto Carnevale, Elena DE Falco, Isotta Chimenti, Sebastiano Sciarretta, Paola Frati, Mamas A Mamas, Sara Ciardi, Luigi Frati, Giacomo Frati, and Mariangela Peruzzi.
• IRCCS NEUROMED, Pozzilli, Isernia, Italy.
• Panminerva Med. 2021 Sep 1; 63 (3): 324-331.

BackgroundNew messenger RNA (mRNA) and adenovirus-based vaccines (AdV) against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have entered large scale clinical trials. Since healthcare professionals (HCPs) and armed forces personnel (AFP) represent a high-risk category, they act as a suitable target population to investigate vaccine-related side effects, including headache, which has emerged as a common complaint.MethodsWe investigated the side-effects of COVID-19 vaccines among HCPs and AFP through a 38 closed-question international survey. The electronic link was distributed via e-mail or via Whatsapp to more than 500 contacts. Responses to the survey questions were analyzed with bivariate tests.ResultsA total of 375 complete surveys have been analyzed. More than 88% received an mRNA vaccine and 11% received AdV first dose. A second dose of mRNA vaccine was administered in 76% of individuals. No severe adverse effects were reported, whereas moderate reactions and those lasting more than 1 day were more common with AdV (P=0.002 and P=0.024 respectively). Headache was commonly reported regardless of the vaccine type, but less frequently, with shorter duration and lower severity that usually experienced by participants, without significant difference irrespective of vaccine type.ConclusionsBoth mRNA and AdV COVID-19 vaccines were safe and well tolerated in a real-life subset of HCPs and AFP subjects.

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