Abstract
Women in Libya have played leading roles in conducting health research through universities and research centers. This study, which coincided with the start of the immunization campaign against the emerging coronavirus in Libya, represents an important research topic related to the health of the society, as it is concerned with monitoring the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) of the society with COVID 19 vaccines. The study which embodies the role of women in the field of medical research and community awareness was carried out by a group of researchers representing the Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Tripoli. The work was conducted by following up AEFI of COVID-19 vaccine in two ways, one of which is active monitoring through personal interviews, in which the researchers played an educational role in addition to investigative work. And the second was prospective passive follow-up which was carried out using an online questionnaire. Results showed that out of 187 participants, about 78% have experienced mild adverse events including fatigue, headaches, muscle pain, fever >38C° and flu-like symptoms which were all self-limiting, while only 2.13% out of the total number of participants have experienced AEFI that needed medical intervention. Same pattern of results was obtained after getting the 1st and 2nd dose. Although obtained data is limited by the small number of participants, it represents a cross-section of the whole society, and provides evidence to the safety of all vaccines used in Libya. It is yet of utmost importance to continue this study to unveil all adverse events associated with covid 19 vaccines use which would help implement national precautionary measures to protect our society. The accumulated data obtained through the NCDC pharmacovigilance team will provide a greater spectrum of results and will identify in more detail those AEFI that need to be addressed.