Local and systemic reactogenicity after mRNA and protein-based COVID-19 vaccines compared to meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY) in a UK blinded, randomized phase 2 trial (COV-BOOST).

Marchese AM., Beyhaghi H., Rousculp MD., Huang V., Liu X., Toback S., Faust SN.

Reactogenicity, the occurrence of vaccine side effects, can impact vaccine acceptance. There is limited data comparing the reactogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines to other routinely used vaccines, such as the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY). In a trial of UK adults, participants received a third COVID-19 vaccine dose (NVX-CoV2373, BNT162b2, or mRNA1273) alongside MenACWY as an active control. Compared to MenACWY, we found that mRNA vaccines, particularly mRNA1273, showed the greatest relative increase in side effects, while protein-based NVX-CoV2373 generally elicited similar reactogenicity to MenACWY. These findings suggest that platform type can influence vaccine reactogenicity, and further research is needed to compare COVID-19 vaccines with other routinely administered vaccines.

DOI

10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126569

Type

Journal

Vaccine

Publication Date

12/01/2025

Volume

44

Keywords

COVID-19, MenACWY, Meningococcus, Reactogenicity, Vaccine, Humans, Meningococcal Vaccines, Male, Adult, Female, United Kingdom, COVID-19 Vaccines, COVID-19, Middle Aged, SARS-CoV-2, mRNA Vaccines, BNT162 Vaccine, Young Adult, Vaccines, Conjugate, 2019-nCoV Vaccine mRNA-1273, Immunization, Secondary

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