D2.338 - The Effect of Covid-19 Vaccines on Adult Primary Immunodeficiency Patients

Primary immunodeficiency patients (PID) are at high risk of contracting COVID-19 infection. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Covid-19 vaccines on PID patients followed up by our clinic. 

A survey study was conducted to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 vaccines on PID patients aged bigger than 18 years old and receiving immunoglobulin (IG) treatment in our clinic. The survey study and data collection were completed between July and August 2021.

The study included 66 patients (29 female (44%) and 37 male (56%)).The patients’ ages were between 20 to 74 years, with a median age of 36.5 years. As a result of the survey, it was determined that 58 (87.9%) patients had received Covid-19 vaccination at least once, but 8 (12.1%) patients had not received Covid-19 vaccination. A total of 136 doses of Covid 19 vaccine (47 (34.5%) doses of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer BioNTech and 89 (65.4%) doses of the inactive COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac) were administered to the 66 PID patients. While no side effects developed in 37 (56%) patients, 29 (44%) patients developed various side effects after vaccination. These side effects developed after a total of 52 doses of vaccination ( 24 doses of Pfizer BioNTech and 28 doses of CoronaVac). The most common side effects were pain in the vaccinated arm (19 doses of vaccine, 6.6%), fatigue (14 doses of vaccine, 21.2%), generalized joint pain (10 doses of vaccine, 15.2%), fever (9 doses of vaccine, 6.6%), and headache (7 doses of vaccine, 10.6%)

Covid 19 infection was observed in three PID patients after 2 doses of CoronaVac vaccine, while Covid 19 infection was not observed in the other groups. This suggests that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is effective alone or when combined with other vaccines. There are some publications on the efficacy and safety of both mRNA COVID-19 and inactivated Covid 19 vaccines. In our study, although the side effect profile is similar for both mRNA COVID-19 and inactive Covid 19 vaccines, the side effect profile is less than those reported in previous studies.