Authors (including presenting author) :
Chow SH(1), Kwong PY(1), Suen WY(1), Yan CT(1), Leung SY(1), Chan YC(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Accident and Emergency Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
The Covid-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been affecting the world for 2 years. The Covid-19 vaccine is an important means to fight the virus. In Hong Kong, the Covid-19 Vaccination programme rolled out on 24/2/2021. There are two types of Covid-19 vaccines, namely Sinovac (CoronaVac) and BioNTech/Fosun (Comirnaty), available for injection. Eligible residents can receive injection in Community Vaccination Centres, designated general outpatient clinics of the Hospital Authority and designated private clinics. There have been over 10 millions doses administered. Over 5 millions of residents have already received their 1st dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Apart from the efficacy, the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) raise public concern, the data regarding attendance to Accident and Emergency related to Covid-19 vaccination could give us an insight on the allocation of resources to alleviate the surge of attendance or the impact brought to the healthcare system.
Objectives :
To report and analyse the attendence and presenting symptoms to a local Accident and Emergency Department after Covid-19 vaccination.
Methodology :
This is an observational descriptive study. Clinical records of the all attendances to the Accident and Emergency Department of United Christian Hospital (AED of UCH) who had received Covid-19 vaccine within 2 months from 28/2/2021 to 31/12/2021 were collected and screened by Consultant for AEFI reporting.
Result & Outcome :
There were 2886 attendances to the AED of UCH within 2 months after Covid-19 vaccination during the study period. 152 (5.3%) of the attendances were referred directly from vaccination centres. 59 (2.0%) cases were reported to AEFI. The common reported AEFI were acute peripheral facial paralysis (27/59), other severe and unusual event that are thought by health workers or the public to be related to immunization(19/59), death (9/59) and hospitalization (3/59).
