Soe P, Wong H, Naus M, Muller MP, Vanderkooi OG, Kellner JD, Top KA, Sadarangani M, Isenor JE, Marty K, De Serres G, Valiquette L, McGeer A, and Bettinger JA
This study examined short-to-medium term safety of COVID-19 vaccines among adults aged ≥65 years using the Canadian National Vaccine Safety Network active safety surveillance data. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated older adult participants recruited from seven provinces and territories were included in the analysis. Safety was assessed at 7 days after COVID-19 vaccination (dose 1, 2 and 3), and 7 months after dose 1. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between BNT162b2/mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccines and two short-term health events: 1) health event preventing daily activities and/or required medical consultation, 2) serious health events resulting in an emergency department visit and/or hospitalization within 7 days following each dose. We also assessed the rates of serious health events for the period between dose 1 and 2, and 7-months following dose 1. Between December 2020 and February 2022, a total of 173,038, 104,452, and 13,970 older adults completed dose 1, dose 2, and dose 3 surveys, respectively. The control survey was completed by 2,955 unvaccinated older adults. Health events occurred more frequently among recipients after dose 2 homologous mRNA-1273 (adjusted odds ratio [95 % confidence interval]: 2.91 [2.24-3.79]) and dose two heterologous (BNT162b2 followed by mRNA-1273): 1.50 [1.12-2.02] compared to unvaccinated counterparts. There was no difference in event rates after any dose of BNT162b2 and unvaccinated participants. The rates of serious health events following COVID-19 vaccination were very low (≤0.3 %) across all vaccine products and doses, and were not higher compared to unvaccinated controls, and were not associated with an emergency department visit or hospitalization within 7 days following vaccination. Reported symptoms were self-limited and rarely required medical assessment. Our findings further strengthen the current evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe and can be used to inform older adults about expected adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Matthew P. Muller, Otto G. Vanderkooi, James D. Kellner, Karina A. Top, Manish Sadarangani, Jennifer E. Isenor, Gaston De Serres, Louis Valiquette, and Julie A. Bettinger reports financial support was provided by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Matthew P. Muller, Otto G. Vanderkooi, James D. Kellner, Karina A. Top, Manish Sadarangani, Jennifer E. Isenor, Gaston De Serres, Louis Valiquette, and Julie A. Bettinger reports financial support was provided by Public Health Agency of Canada. Matthew P. Muller, Otto G. Vanderkooi, James D. Kellner, Karina A. Top, Manish Sadarangani, Jennifer E. Isenor, Gaston De Serres, Louis Valiquette, and Julie A. Bettinger reports financial support was provided by COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. PS, HW, MN, JAB, MPM, JDK, KM and OGV have no competing interests. MS has been an investigator on projects funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi-Pasteur, Seqirus, Symvivo and VBI Vaccines outside the submitted work. All funds have been paid to his institute, and he has not received any personal payments. GDS and LV report grants from Pfizer outside the submitted work. KAT reports grants from the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for COVID-19 vaccine studies. JEI has been an investigator on projects funded by GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Pasteur outside the submitted work. All funds have been paid to her institute, and she has not received any personal payment. AM reports grants to her institution from Pfizer and Sanofi-Pasteur, and personal payments for consulting from AstraZeneca, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer, and Seqirus., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)