Objective: Vaccination has been the sole effective treatment, from the time when the Coronavirus-19 was declared as a pandemic infection. Public's perception of the COVID-19 vaccine and the process of vaccination uptake is significantly impacted by its side effects. The purpose of this study was to compare the side effects experienced by men and women who received the COVID-19 vaccination.

Methodology: This was an observational cross-sectional multicenter study using a questionnaire to collect information from the participants. The study duration was about 6 months from july 2022 till Jan 2023 after obtaining approval. A total of 516 participants who received one of COVID-19 vaccines, such as Sinopharm, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, and Pfizer were included in the study. Demographic information about the participants’, for instance, gender, age, comorbidities, vaccine type and dose, previous exposure to COVID-19 infection, and the occurrence of any systemic and local side effects after receiving the 1^st and 2^nd doses of vaccines were documented. The frequency of adverse effects was evaluated separately among males and females using the Chi-square test. An independent t-test was applied to assess the difference between means.

Results: Out of 516 participants,262(50.8%) were males and 256(49.6%) were females. Most of the male participants 118(45.1%) and female participants 95(37.1%) received Sinovac vaccine. Sinopharmvaccine was received by 60(22.9%) male participants and 63(24.6%) female participants. Pfizer was received by 64(24.4%) male participants and 58(22.7%) female participants, with a significant association observed between all vaccines and gender, (p=0.001). Following the 1^stand 2^nddoses of vaccines, the risk of side effects was higher in females. Pain, swelling, and a burning sensation at injection site were the most commonly observed side effects predominantly in females.

Conclusion: The study concluded that pain, swelling, burning sensation at the injection site, and fever were observed to be the most common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, the most of the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccinations were mild and well-tolerated. However, females were more likely to have these adverse effects than males.

Keywords: Adverse effects, gender disparities, pain, swelling, fever.