Nonattendance is associated with work performance due to the side effects of COVID-19 vaccination: a cross-sectional study in a Japanese manufacturing industry.

Objectives: Although vaccines have promoted the socioeconomic normalization of COVID-19, adverse effects on work performance due to the post-vaccination side effects have been reported. Thus, we examined the relationship between the status of going to work the day following vaccination as a post-vaccination employment consideration and work performance among Japanese workers in the manufacturing industry.

Methods: Overall, 1273 employees who received the COVID-19 vaccine in a Japanese manufacturing district were surveyed using a self-administered web-based questionnaire that included fever, fatigue, workplace attendance the day after vaccination, work performance 1 week after vaccination, and demographic and occupational characteristics (age, gender, work style, and psychological distress [K6 scale]). The effects of fatigue and attendance on declining work performance were estimated using a linear mixed model, with individuals as random effects and the rest as fixed effects.

Results: After adjusting for demographic and occupational characteristics, the third-order interaction of fever, fatigue, and attendance on the day following vaccination was significant. The nonattendance group had a significantly higher work performance than the attendance group in those without fever and long-term fatigue (F1,1559 = 4.9, P = .026) and with fever and short-term fatigue (F1,1559 = 5.9, P = .015). Fever and workplace attendance the following day were not directly related to a decrease in work performance after vaccination.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that nonattendance at the workplace is associated with work performance due to the side effects after COVID-19 vaccination.