Defining the Nature of Neurological Complications after COVID-19 Vaccines

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few critical years, the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected millions of people with devastating consequences globally and imposed new scientific priorities. First of all, there was the fast development of an efficient vaccine in order to restrict the spread of the disease and decrease the severity of symptoms as efficiently as possible. Several vaccines are approved for use in multiple countries, showing a reduction in COVID-19 infections and transmissions, as well as the number of hospitalizations and deaths in randomized controlled trials and effectiveness studies. The use of the vaccines has shown rare adverse effects ranging from less severe ones like fever, local pain and myalgias to several potentially serious cardiac and neurological complications. Still, the current evidence implies that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risk of these events in the majority of patients.

It is also interesting to note that the occurrence of severe neurological adverse events was greater than expected, which, as a further consequence, led to vaccine hesitancy and public concerns and further slowed down the achievement of protective herd immunity by vaccination. The most common and severe reported neurological implications following COVID-19 vaccination are: cortical sinus venous thrombosis, Bell's palsy, transverse myelitis, acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and Guillain–Barré syndromes, along with other common effects such as headaches. All these complications, however, could not be fully accessed by clinical trials. Thus, the mass vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 infection sound like an urgent call for researchers around the world to independently assess the safety profile of vaccines in different populations and noncontrolled settings.

It is important to provide clarity and sufficient knowledge regarding the occurrence and severity of post-vaccination neurological implications so that they can be treated more efficiently, but also to reduce public fear and vaccine hesitation. This Special Issue focuses on the recent scientific evidence made in this field. Based on extensive knowledge and clinical experience, we invite scholars to submit their work on the collected evidence (original report, original observation or review) in order to better define the nature of different neurological adverse events, their occurrence and their varieties. 

Dr. Maria Salsone
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine
• mRNA-1273 vaccine
• ChAdOx1nCoV-19 vaccine
• neurological adverse events
• COVID-19 infection