Vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine. Safety of Vaccines
Authors:   Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, Department of Therapeutic Disciplines. 30, Myru Prospect, apt. 38, Mykolaiv 54004, Ukraine, Iakovenko N. O. , Ogloblina M. V. , Nuzhna O. K. 
Published: December 2021

COVID-19 is a life-threatening disease that can be asymptomatic in the form of a common ARVI, or in extremely severe forms, with serious long-term consequences. Vaccination against COVID-19 is critically important to restrain the pandemic. The purpose of the study was to analyze and systematize the data of pharmacological supervision of the use of vaccines against COVID-19. For this, methods of analysis, systematization and generalization of information were used using the databases of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organisation in the period from February 24, 2021 to October 31, 2021. Currently, such vaccines are registered and approved for use in Ukraine as AstraZeneca (Covishield, SKBio), Comirnaty / Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, CoronaVac / Sinovac Biotech. According to official data, the effectiveness of all these vaccines is quite high. They are especially effective in preventing severe course of disease, hospitalization, and death. Sometimes the vaccination process can be with the development of a number of side effects. Responsibility for the risks associated with the production and use of vaccines dictates the need for constant monitoring of these side effects. That is why we analyzed the data of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine about adverse events after immunization from COVID-19 in Ukraine. Thus, the analysis of adverse events reported showed that they took place in 0.018% cases of the total number of vaccine doses that were administered. In the context, for each vaccine separately, the number of adverse events reported were: Covishield – 1128 cases (0.23%), CoronaVac – 419 (0.008%), Comirnaty – 854 (0.02%), AstraZeneca – 540 (0.02%), Moderna – 393 (0.02%), respectively. It should be noted that most of the reported cases of adverse events reported in Ukraine during vaccination against COVID-19 are mild predictable reactions (88.72 – 93.38%). This result allows us to speak of a fairly high predictability of the adverse events reported after COVID-19 vaccination. This is confirmed by the data of world literature. After analyzing the presented data of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, we found that the most of adverse events reported after COVID-19 vaccination are so-called general disorders and disorders at the injection site (fever, fatigue, chills, redness, pain and swelling at the injection site). Neurological disorders ranked second in terms of the number of adverse events reported, and musculoskeletal disorders ranked third. Adverse events reported manifestations from other organs and systems had isolated cases. After using all of the above vaccines, the percentage of adverse events reported was significantly higher in women than in men, which coincides with the data of the world literature. Conclusion. Thus, the analysis of the safety of vaccines against COVID-19, registered and authorized for use in Ukraine, shows that the risks of adverse events reported after COVID-19 vaccination are rare; the most of them are mild and predictable. At the same time, these manifestations of adverse events reported cannot be compared with the health and life risks associated with the COVID-19 disease itself. Ensuring continuous monitoring of the safety of vaccine use and identifying potential side effects will further reduce and manage the risks associated with vaccine use