A review of neurological side effects of COVID-19 vaccination

February, 2023

Abstract

Following the COVID-19 virus epidemic, extensive, coordinated international research has led to the rapid development of effective vaccines. Although vaccines are now considered the best way to achieve collective safety and control mortality, due to the critical situation, these vaccines have been issued the emergency use licenses and some of their potential subsequence side effects have been overlooked. At the same time, there are many reports of side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. According to these reports, vaccination can have an adverse event, especially on nervous system. The most important and common complications are cerebrovascular disorders including cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, transient ischemic attack, intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, and demyelinating disorders including transverse myelitis, first manifestation of MS, and neuromyelitis optica. These effects are often acute and transient, but they can be severe and even fatal in a few cases. Herein, we have provided a comprehensive review of documents reporting neurological side effects of COVID-19 vaccines in international databases from 2020 to 2022 and discussed neurological disorders possibly caused by vaccination.

Conclusion

According to the vaccine study literature, adverse effects have always been part of the mass vaccination strategy, but ultimately the desired effects of the vaccination are more significant. Side effects of COVID-19 vaccination have been reported more frequently in people with a history of immune-related diseases or who are more sensitive to age and physiological conditions. The most important and most common complications are cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (more about AstraZeneca), transverse myelitis (more about Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson), Bell's palsy (more about Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca), GBS (more about Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson), and the first manifestation of MS (more about Pfizer). Finally, discovering whether these disorders are accidental or whether the vaccine is the main cause of them requires future studies, ongoing efforts to gather evidence, and long-term monitoring.

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