Introduction:

Paraguay began on monday, february 22, 2021, the vaccination campaign against covid-19. All vaccines, including those for COVID-19, carry the potential for side effects such as fatigue, fever, headaches, myalgia, chills, nausea, diarrhea, and injection site pain.

Objective:

Identify the proportion of side effects of vaccines against COVID-19 in health personnel in Paraguay.

Methodology:

Cross-sectional study. The population was made up of health personnel vaccinated by COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2021. The variables were sex, age, history of COVID-19, underlying diseases, the name of the vaccine received, symptoms, time of appearance of symptoms and their duration, use of paracetamol and whether or not medical attention was required.

Results:

146 participated, of which 68.5% were female and 38.4% were less than 30 years old. 72.6% of the participants received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 76.1% had no history of Covid-19. 60.4% of the study population had symptoms after COVID-19 vaccination. The most common symptoms were arm pain (84.1%) weakness / fatigue (75.9%), headache (65.5%), joint pain (48.8%), chills (41.4%), fever (39.1%), and nausea (33.3). The time to onset of symptoms was immediate (up to 1 hour after vaccination), mostly 43.3% in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine compared to the other vaccines (11.8%). Symptoms lasted 1 day in 42.9% of cases.

Conclusion:

The frequency of side effects was 60.4% of the population, however, the symptoms were mild and mostly lasted one day after the application. Surveillance in the general population is necessary at this stage during the launch of vaccination

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