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Neurological Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccines: An Analysis of VAERS

Frontera JA 1 , Tamborska AA 2 , Doheim MF 3 , Garcia-Azorin D 4 , Gezegen H 5 , Guekht A 6 Show all authors , Yusof Khan AHK 7 , Santacatterina M 8 , Sejvar J 9 , Thakur KT 10 , Westenberg E 11 , Winkler AS 11 , Beghi E 12 , contributors from the Global COVID-19 Neuro Research Coalition

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
  • 2 Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
  • 3 Department of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
  • 4 Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
  • 5 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 6 Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry, Moscow, Russia; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
  • 7 Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 8 Department of Population Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA
  • 9 Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
  • 10 Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, USA
  • 11 Department of Neurology, Center for Global Health, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  • 12 Department of Neuroscience, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy
Ann Neurol, 2022 Mar 02;91(6):756-71.
PMID: 35233819 DOI: 10.1002/ana.26339

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify the rates of neurological events following administration of mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna) or adenovirus vector (Janssen) vaccines in the U.S..

METHODS: We utilized publicly available data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) collected between January 1, 2021-June 14, 2021. All free text symptoms that were reported within 42 days of vaccine administration were manually reviewed and grouped into 36 individual neurological diagnostic categories. Post-vaccination neurological event rates were compared between vaccine types and to age-matched baseline incidence rates in the U.S. and rates of neurological events following COVID.

RESULTS: Of 306,907,697 COVID vaccine doses administered during the study timeframe, 314,610 (0.1%) people reported any adverse event and 105,214 (0.03%) reported neurological adverse events in a median of 1 day (IQR0-3) from inoculation. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) occurred in fewer than 1 per 1,000,000 doses. Significantly more neurological adverse events were reported following Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S) vaccination compared to either Pfizer-BioNtech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA-1273; 0.15% versus 0.03% versus 0.03% of doses, respectively,P<0.0001). The observed-to-expected ratios for GBS, CVT and seizure following Janssen vaccination were ≥1.5-fold higher than background rates. However, the rate of neurological events after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection was up to 617-fold higher than after COVID vaccination.

INTERPRETATION: Reports of serious neurological events following COVID vaccination are rare. GBS, CVT and seizure may occur at higher than background rates following Janssen vaccination. Despite this, rates of neurological complications following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection are up to 617-fold higher than after COVID vaccination. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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