Administering Covid-19 vaccine for rehabilitation patients advantageous: Qatar study

A Qatar study has found that administering Covid-19 mRNA vaccine in the inpatient population in a rehabilitation facility is advantageous for gaining full immunity for them.
The study featured on Qscience.com highlights that delaying the vaccine until patients complete their rehabilitation is unjustifiable and recommends to initiate vaccination campaigns in inpatient facilities, while the patients are completing their rehabilitation programme.
Research by Zahra Noureddine, Lama Madi, Sami Ullah and Haneen Alrawashdeh from Qatar Rehabilation Institiute (QRI) of Hamad medical Corporation and Lina Naseralallah from the School of Pharmacy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK explored the adverse drug reaction (ADR) profile in this population and monitored the progression of these ADRs in a hospital setting.
According to the study, the initiation of vaccination campaigns in inpatient rehabilitation would offer the advantage of gaining full immunity and reducing the risk of contracting Covid-19 infection and complications once discharged.
It was a prospective observational study, which included adult patients admitted to the rehabilitation facility of QRI who were deemed eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine during their hospital stay. Data was collected by the investigators from June 2021 to May 2022 at 24 hours, 48 hours, and seven days post-vaccination and a piloted data collection tool utilised for this.
The aim of this observational study was to explore and quantify the incidence of ADRs following the administration of the mRNA vaccine in the inpatient population at QRI. The rehabilitation facility offers support and rehabilitation to general trauma patients, stroke patients, as well as those suffering from spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Due to their prolonged hospital stay, these inpatients were candidates to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, which would enable clinicians to closely monitor any potential reactions to the vaccine.
A total of 35 patients, who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the studywere administered the vaccine. The researchers took up the unique opportunity to closely observe patients to ensure no side effects go undiagnosed. This study explored and quantified the incidence and severity of ADRs in patients who have received the Covid-19 vaccine during their stay in the rehabilitation facility.iediediedied
Pain at the injection site was the most commonly reported local ADR, while headache was the most frequent systemic ADR. The majority of the reported ADRs were mild to moderate in nature, with only one severe reaction detected. Although no statistical significance was noted among the variables, common patterns were identified, such as a higher occurrence of fever at 24 hours after the second dose as opposed to the first dose. Close monitoring of the included study subjects did not reveal any unanticipated ADRs or an increase in ADRs susceptibility and severity compared to the general population.
The majority of patients were male (85.7%), with their age ranging between 30 and 60 years old (91.4%). Around half of the patients had a history of diabetes, hypertension, or stroke. Out of the 35 included patients, the use of blood thinning medication was confirmed in 29 (82.9%) patients. All patients received the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine.
The results of this study did not show an increased risk of ADRs following vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine in the inpatient population. The findings from this study closely aligned with the published literature on outpatients, providing support for inpatient vaccination campaigns.