A novel study published in MEDICINA (Buenos Aires) revealed that the incidence of early local and systemic reactions allegedly linked with the use of the Sputnik V vaccine was high but generally mild in vaccinated healthcare workers. Vanina Pagotto and colleagues described the rate of early events supposedly attributable to vaccination or immunization (ESAVI) in healthcare workers vaccinated with the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine.

A self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate safety 72 hours after immunization. All in all, 707 healthcare workers (median aged 35 years; 67% women) were vaccinated from January 5 till January 20, 2021. The response rate was 96.6% (683 study participants), and 487 (71.3%) participants were described as having a minimum of one ESAVI. Total ESAVIs reported were 1434.

The occurrences of local and systemic reactions following the use of the first Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine dose has been summarized in Table 1 below:

Although rare, 5% of patients (n = 34) had serious adverse events, and one had to be admitted to the hospital. Women had a higher ESAVI rate as compared to men (66.4% vs 51.4%) and in younger workers aged <55 years (63.0% versus 28.0%). Future research on long-term safety focused on sex and age are required, noted the study authors.