Case Report: Associated Ocular Adverse Reactions With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine in China

The vaccine is still the best clinical measure for effective prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The vaccine-associated ocular adverse reactions should be noted in detail among the medical community. We reported twelve eyes of 9 patients presented at the Department of Ophthalmology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from March to August 2021 with ocular complaints following COVID-19 vaccination. The main inclusion criterion was the development of ocular symptoms within 14 days after receiving a dose of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. The mean (SD) age was 44.7 +/- 16.5 years (range, 19-78 years), among which seven (77.8%) cases were women. The mean time of ocular adverse events was 7.1 days (range, 1-14 days) after receiving the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. One patient was diagnosed with choroiditis, 1 with uveitis, 4 with keratitis, 1 with scleritis, 1 with acute retinal necrosis, and 1 with iridocyclitis. Although the causal relationship between vaccines and ocular adverse events cannot be established from this case series report, physicians should pay attention to the ocular adverse reactions following the COVID-19 vaccine administration.

Automated summary

This study reported cases of ocular adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination, including choroiditis, uveitis, keratitis, etc. Although the causal relationship between vaccines and ocular adverse events cannot be established, physicians should pay attention to this phenomenon.