Perceptions and Experiences of COVID-19 Vaccine Side-Effects Among Healthcare Workers in Southern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Variables	Categories	Frequency (%)
Sex	Male	184 (52.9%)
	Female	164 (47.1%)
Marital Status	Never married	134 (38.5%)
	Married	208 (59.8%)
	Divorced	4 (1.1%)
	Widowed	2 (0.6%)
Educational Status	Primary level (1–8)	7 (2%)
	Secondary level (9–12)	8 (2.3%)
	College diploma	65 (18.7%)
	BA/BSc degree	240 (69%)
	MA/MSc degree and above	28 (8%)
Occupational Status	Medical doctor	32 (9.2%)
	Health officer	62 (17.8%)
	Administrative (managerial) staff	8 (2.3%)
	Nurse	153 (44%)
	Laboratory technician	16 (4.6%)
	Pharmacist (druggist)	15 (4.3%)
	Midwife	38 (10.9%)
	Other	24 (6.9%)
Ownership of the organization Where respondents work	Public	174 (50%)
	Private	158 (45.4%)
	Charity	16 (4.6%)
Do you think that you can be infected by COVID-19?	Yes	196 (56.3%)
	No	152 (43.7%)
Do you think that you are likely to die if infected by COVID-19?	Yes	127 (36.5%)
	No	221 (63.5%)
Do you believe that COVID-19 vaccine is effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19?	Yes	163 (46.8%)
	No	185 (53.2%)
Have you ever been infected by COVID-19?	Yes	46 (13.2%)
	No	189 (54.3%)
	Not sure	113 (32.5%)
Respondents’ COVID-19 vaccination history	Completed (received full dose)	176 (50.6%)
	Default (received only the first dose)	95 (27.3%)
	Not vaccinated at all	77 (22.1%)
	Total	348 (100%)

Table 2 Reasons for Defaulting and Not Receiving the Full Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine

		Responses		Percent of Cases
		N	Percent
Reasons for defaulting	Did not get the opportunity to be vaccinated (supply side factor)	47	39.8%	50.5%
	I believe that the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine is sufficient to prevent infection	5	4.2%	5.4%
	I am concerned about the safety and/or the side effects	17	14.4%	18.3%
	I was not comfortable with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine	14	11.9%	15.1%
	I believe that I have adequate natural immunity	3	2.5%	3.2%
	I am concerned because I do not think the vaccine will be effective	10	8.5%	10.8%
	I believe that I can easily withstand the illness if infected by the disease	2	1.7%	2.2%
	I do not think I will need the vaccine due to previous infection, health status or age	2	1.7%	2.2%
	I am against vaccines in general	1	0.8%	1.1%
	Lack of adequate information	2	1.7%	2.2%
	I believe that other non-vaccine preventive mechanisms are sufficient	3	2.5%	3.2%
	Covid-19 is not that serious concern in my work or residential area	1	0.8%	1.1%
	No reason	1	0.8%	1.1%
	Other reasons	10	8.5%	10.8%
Total		118	100.0%	126.9%
Reasons for not Receiving the vaccine at all	Did not get the opportunity to be vaccinated (supply side factor)	23	23.2%	30.7%
	I am concerned about the safety and/or the side effects	26	26.3%	34.7%
	I am concerned because I do not think the vaccine will be effective	15	15.2%	20.0%
	I believe that I have adequate natural immunity	12	12.1%	16.0%
	I believe that I am not at risk of being infected by Covid-19	1	1.0%	1.3%
	I believe that I can easily withstand the illness if infected by the disease	4	4.0%	5.3%
	I am against vaccines in general	3	3.0%	4.0%
	Lack of adequate information about it	5	5.1%	6.7%
	Reasons related to belief/religion	6	6.1%	8.0%
	I believe that other non-vaccine preventive mechanisms are sufficient	3	3.0%	4.0%
	I do not believe that Covid-19 really exists	1	1.0%	1.3%
Total		99	100.0%	132.0%

Table 3 Frequency Distribution of Responses Regarding Perceptions About the Side-Effects of COVID-19 Vaccine

			Responses		Percent of Cases
			N	Percent
Perceptions/expectations of CIVID-19 Vaccine Side-effects		Muscle pain around the injection site	82	11.9%	43.6%
		Swelling around the injection site	29	4.2%	15.4%
		Redness/flushing around the injection site	27	3.9%	14.4%
		Fatigue	63	9.1%	33.5%
		Fever	75	10.9%	39.9%
		Headache	67	9.7%	35.6%
		Nasal stiffness	6	0.9%	3.2%
		Irregular heartbeats	10	1.4%	5.3%
		Aching limbs	30	4.3%	16.0%
		Depression	25	3.6%	13.3%
		Bleeding gums	5	0.7%	2.7%
		Allergic shocks	24	3.5%	12.8%
		Problems of blood clots	71	10.3%	37.8%
		Internal bleeding	11	1.6%	5.9%
		Sleepiness and laziness	28	4.1%	14.9%
		Abnormal blood pressure	9	1.3%	4.8%
		Nausea	26	3.8%	13.8%
		Abdominal pain	11	1.6%	5.9%
		Decreased sleep quality	11	1.6%	5.9%
		Chest pain	9	1.3%	4.8%
		Diarrhea	8	1.2%	4.3%
		Vomiting	5	0.7%	2.7%
		Chills	26	3.8%	13.8%
		Sore or dry throat	6	0.9%	3.2%
		Dizziness	5	0.7%	2.7%
		Infertility	7	1.0%	3.7%
		Other serious reactions	7	1.0%	3.7%
		Death	8	1.2%	4.3%
Total			691	100.0%	367.6%
Sources of Information about COVID-19 Vaccine		Local public electronic media (EBC, FBC, radio, etc.)	227	29.0%	65.2%
		Local print media (newspaper, magazine, etc.)	49	6.3%	14.1%
		International media outlets (BBC, CNN, etc.)	144	18.4%	41.4%
		Social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)	163	20.8%	46.8%
		Social network platforms (colleagues, relatives, etc)	99	12.7%	28.4%
		Medical journals and other scientific websites	83	10.6%	23.9%
		Others	17	2.2%	4.9%
Total			782	100.0%	224.7%
Expectation of serious side-effects and its effect		Have you ever expected that COVID-19 vaccine will have Serious and life-threatening side-effects?	Yes	168 (48.3%)
			No	180 (51.7%)
		Did your expectation/fear inhibit you from receiving the vaccine?	Yes	87 (25%)
			No	261 (75%)
Total				348 (100%)

Table 4 Experiences of COVID-19 Vaccine Side-Effects and Treatments Received

		Responses		Percent of Cases
		N	Percent
Experience of COVID-19 Vaccine Side-effects	Muscle pain around the injection site	171	19.7%	63.6%
	Swelling around the injection site	48	5.5%	17.8%
	Redness/flushing around the injection site	58	6.7%	21.6%
	Fatigue	113	13.0%	42.0%
	Fever	92	10.6%	34.2%
	Headache	100	11.5%	37.2%
	Nasal stiffness	11	1.3%	4.1%
	Irregular heartbeats	8	0.9%	3.0%
	Aching limbs	48	5.5%	17.8%
	Depression	33	3.8%	12.3%
	Allergic shocks	5	0.6%	1.9%
	Problems of blood clots	5	0.6%	1.9%
	Internal bleeding	1	0.1%	0.4%
	Sleepiness and laziness	20	2.3%	7.4%
	Abnormal blood pressure	2	0.2%	0.7%
	Nausea	39	4.5%	14.5%
	Abdominal pain	13	1.5%	4.8%
	Decreased sleep quality	26	3.0%	9.7%
	Chest pain	8	0.9%	3.0%
	Diarrhea	10	1.2%	3.7%
	Vomiting	2	0.2%	0.7%
	Chills	31	3.6%	11.5%
	Sore or dry throat	8	0.9%	3.0%
	Dizziness	7	0.8%	2.6%
	Other serious reactions	9	1.0%	3.3%
	Total	868	100.0%	322.7%
Treatments made after the side-effects	Nothing	103	30.5%	38.4%
	Took a rest/slept	104	30.8%	38.8%
	Took anti-pain	94	27.8%	35.1%
	Consulted a physician	23	6.8%	8.6%
	Traditional medical treatment	9	2.7%	3.4%
	Others	5	1.5%	1.9%
	Total	338	100.0%	126.1%

Figure 1 For how long did the side effects of COVID-19 vaccine last?

Figure 2 How severe/painful were the side-effects that you experienced after vaccination?

Figure 3 Have you ever been infected by COVID-19 after receiving the CIVID-19 vaccine?

Table 5 Results of Binary Logistic Regression Analysis

Variables	Categories	Have You Ever Expected That COVID-19 Vaccine Will Have Serious and Life-Threatening Side Effects?			P-value	OR	95% C.I.
		Yes	No	Total
Sex	Male	84	84	168	0.245	1.373	0.805–2.341
	Female	100	80	180
Age					0.158	0.969	0.927–1.012
Marital status	Never married	59	75	134	0.999	13,058.6	0.002–0.015
	Married	107	101	208
	Divorced	0	4	4
	Widowed	2	0	2
Education	Primary level	4	3	7	0.006**	0.229	0.080–0.651
	Secondary level	4	4	8
	College diploma	32	33	65
	BA/BSc degree	121	119	240
	MA/Sc & above	7	21	28
Ownership of organization	Public	81	93	174	0.941	1.045	0.327–3.336
	Private	79	79	158
	Charity	8	8	16
Occupation	Medical doctor	15	17	32	0.152	0.416	0.125–1.383
	Health officer	29	33	62
	Administrative staff	3	5	8
	Nurse	76	77	153
	Laboratory technician	10	6	16
	Pharmacist	9	6	15
	Midwife	16	22	38
	Other	10	14	24
Ever Infected by COVID-19	Yes	26	23	49	0.070	1.591	0.963–2.630
	No	82	103	185
	Not sure	60	54	114
Belief in the likelihood of dying from COVID-19	Yes	63	64	127	0.581	0.864	0.513–1.454
	No	105	116	221
Belief in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine	Yes	73	91	164	0.443	1.209	0.744–1.966
	No	95	89	184
History of COVID-19 vaccination	Completed	85	91	176	0.236	1.435	0.790–2.608
	Default	41	54	95
	Not vaccinated at all	42	35	77

Note: **P<0.01.

Abbreviations: OR, Odds Ratio; C.I., Confidence Interval.