If you are a female, a youngster with pre-vaccination Covid, a person with weak health, or you had a bout of typhoid just after having your coronavirus vaccine, your chances of showing a side effect from Covaxin are higher than others, a study conducted by researchers at the Banaras Hindu University found.

Skin disorders, nervous system disorders, menstrual abnormalities, malfunctioning of eyes, and hypothyroidism are some of the reported “special events” or post-vaccination side effects.

According to the observational study conducted from January 2022 to August 2023, published on the peer-reviewed platform Springer, the female individuals, adolescents with pre-vaccination Covid-19, those with co-morbidities, or those with post-vaccination typhoid had respectively 1.6 times, 2 times, 2.7 times, and 3.2 times higher odds of persistent side effects or having “an event of special interest”.

“Adults with co-morbidities had more than 2 times higher odds of AESIs and persistent AESIs,” said the report titled “Long-Term Safety Analysis of the BBV152 Coronavirus Vaccine in Adolescents and Adults: Findings from a 1-Year Prospective Study in North India”.

The emergence of adverse events following the administration of Covaxin showed distinct patterns compared to those with other Covid vaccines, it said, adding that “most of the adverse events of special interest (AESIs) persisted at the one-year follow-up”.

The study found that the adverse events or side effects also varied between adolescents and adults.

WHAT BHARAT BIOTECH SAYS

Covaxin is the first made-in-India Covid-19 vaccine, manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech along with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

“For such a study in safety to be effective, and informative and to avoid investigator bias, the following data points are also required…,” the press release from the maker Bharat Biotech said following the publication of the study.