ArticleVaccines2021
Sex Disparities in Efficacy in COVID-19 Vaccines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Article in Vaccines, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Axes of social inequities in COVID-19 clinical trials: A systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Gut microbiota as a regulator of vaccine efficacy: implications for personalized vaccination.Gut microbes · 2025Review
- Disparities in response to mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines according to sex and age: A systematic review.New microbes and new infections · 2025Review
- Sex differences in response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in Italian population.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Article
- Sex differences in symptoms following the administration of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in children below 5 years of age in Germany (CoVacU5): a retrospective cohort study.Biology of sex differences · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against severe COVID-19 among patients with cancer in Catalonia, Spain.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Sex and gender differences in adverse events following influenza and COVID-19 vaccination.Biology of sex differences · 2024Article
- Review
- mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 induce divergent antigen-specific T-cell responses in patients with lung cancer.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2024Article
- Hybrid immunity and protection against infection during the Omicron wave in Malta.Emerging microbes & infections · 2023Article
- Article
- Modulation of the Immune Response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccination by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2023Article
- Article
- Cytokinopathy with aberrant cytotoxic lymphocytes and profibrotic myeloid response in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-associated myocarditis.Science immunology · 2023Article
- Predictors of long-term neutralizing antibody titers following COVID-19 vaccination by three vaccine types: the BOOST study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Sex and Age: 2 Predictors of Cardiovascular Events With COVID-19 Infection.JACC. Advances · 2023Article
- Impact of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines on lung injury in B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant-infected patients.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2023Article
- Adverse Events to Comirnaty Vaccine Are Linked to Sex, Age and BMI: Should We Consider Reducing the Dose for Females?Vaccines · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sex differences in adaptive and innate immune responses have been shown to occur and anecdotal reports suggest that vaccine efficacy and safety may be sex-dependent. We investigated the influence of sex on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines through a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines. The safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines was also investigated. A systematic review included eligible articles published in three databases and three websites. A meta-analysis of available data, stratified by sex, was conducted. Statistical analysis was performed using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method, as well as influence and heterogeneity analysis. Pooled analysis showed significantly higher efficacy, measured as the rate of new COVID-19 cases, in men compared to women in the vaccine group (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.48-0.94). No sex differences were found in the rate of new cases in the control group (OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.78-1.09). Safety profiles derived from pharmacovigilance reports appear to indicate increased toxicity in women. In conclusion, evidence of a potential role of sex in COVID-19 vaccine efficacy was described. It strengthens the need to include sex as a core variable in the clinical trial design of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.