Biometrics from a wearable device reveal temporary effects of COVID-19 vaccines on cardiovascular, respiratory, and sleep physiology.

Although vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been proven safe and effective, transient side-effects lasting 24-48 h postvaccination have been reported. To better understand the subjective and objective response to COVID-19 vaccination, we conducted a retrospective analysis on 69,619 subscribers to a wrist-worn biometric device (WHOOP Inc., Boston, MA) who received either the AstraZeneca, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The WHOOP device measures resting heart rate (RHR), heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate (RR), and sleep architecture, and these physiological measures were normalized to the same day of the week, 1 wk before vaccination. Averaging across vaccines, RHR, RR, and percent sleep derived from light sleep were elevated on the first night following vaccination and returned to baseline within 4 nights postvaccination. When statistical differences were observed between doses on the first night postvaccination, larger deviations in physiological measures were observed following the first dose of AstraZeneca and the second dose of Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. When statistical differences were observed between age groups or gender on the first night postvaccination, larger deviations in physiological measures were observed in younger populations and in females (compared with males). When combining self-reported symptoms (fatigue, muscle aches, headache, chills, or fever) with the objectively measured physiological parameters, we found that self-reporting fever or chills had the strongest association with deviations in physiological measures following vaccination. In summary, these results suggest that COVID-19 vaccines temporarily affect cardiovascular, respiratory, and sleep physiology and that dose, gender, and age affect the physiological response to vaccination.