Adverse events following the first, second and third doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to identify adverse events following the first three doses of COVID-19 vaccines in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Risk factors associated with postvaccination adverse events were explored.

METHODS

Postvaccination adverse events in 438 HD patients who received 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were prospectively assessed. The adverse events among three doses were compared using generalized linear mixed models. Factors associated with adverse events were assessed with multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

The vast majority of participants received Oxford/AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 as their first two doses and Moderna mRNA-1273 as their third dose. Overall, 79%, 50% and 84% of the participants experienced at least one adverse event after their first, second, and third doses, respectively. These adverse events were mostly minor, short-lived and less than 5% reported daily activities being affected. Compared with the first dose, the second dose caused a lower rate of adverse events. Compared with the first dose, the third dose elicited a higher rate of injection site reactions and a lower rate of systemic reactions. Multivariate analyses showed that every 10-year increase of age (odds ratio 0.67, 95% confidence intervals 0.57-0.79) was associated with decreased risk of adverse events, while female sex (2.82, 1.90-4.18) and arteriovenous fistula (1.73, 1.05-2.84) were associated with increased risk of adverse events. Compared with Oxford/AstraZeneca ChAdOx1, Moderna mRNA-1273 was associated with an increased risk of injection site reactions.

CONCLUSIONS

COVID-19 vaccination was well tolerated in HD patients. Age, sex, dialysis vascular access and vaccine types were associated with postvaccination adverse events.