Effectiveness and Side Effects of Sinopharm Vaccines in the Population of Lahore
The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented demands on global public health, and vaccinations emerged as the leading long-term effort to decrease infection, hospitalizations, and mortality. The safety and efficacy of the Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV) vaccine are confirmed among global recommendations; however, population-based studies are needed to identify granular immunological responses and post-vaccination adverse events in this regard. In view of this, we aimed to assess the real-life effectiveness and safety profile of Sinopharm vaccine among Lahore community in Pakistan. A longitudinal study carried out with 120 volunteers, 100 vaccinated and 20 unvaccinated as control. IgG antibodies were determined monthly by ELISA and side effects survey was conducted using structured questionnaires. The vaccinated cohort was divided into four age groups (21–30, 31–40, 41–50 and 51–60 years). Titer of IgG peaked at month 2 post-vaccination compared to other time points for all groups (e.g., 324.94 IU/ml in the 21–30 group; 273.83 IU/ml in the 31–40 group) with a gradual decrease over the year but still remain significantly higher than control level (<10 IU/ml). The headache was the most common symptom (97.5% of subjects) followed by muscle pain (83.8%), fatigue (70.0%), nausea (40%) and fever/chills (30.0%) Serious adverse events were not common, mainly self-limiting in nature. These results demonstrate robust initial immunogenicity of the Sinopharm vaccine and that antibody levels remained above protective threshold up to 12 months with a favourable safety profile. These findings present key local data to support vaccination interventions as well as booster policy in resource-constrained environments.
Keywords: Sinopharm; IgG antibodies; vaccine effectiveness; COVID-19; adverse effects
