Smartwatches and fitness bands reveal individual physiological responses to COVID-19 vaccine

A new digital health study by researchers at Scripps Research shows how data from wearable sensors, such as smartwatches and fitness bands, can track a person’s physiological response to the COVID-19 vaccination. The study, published in npj Digital Medicine, analyzed sensor data on sleep, activity and heart rate from over 5,600 individuals. Among the findings, the team showed that the average resting heart rate of participants significantly increased the day following vaccination. The effect appeared to be stronger after the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and more pronounced in younger individuals. According to lead author Giorgio Quer, PhD, director of Artificial Intelligence at the Scripps Research Translational Institute, this study is a first step toward quantifying the physiological response to vaccination in individuals using commercial sensors. “Investigating the physiological signals in the period around vaccination can help us better understand the variability of vaccine response between people,...