More than one quarter of Australians who received AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine have taken time off work or study because of side effects, surveillance data show.

Overall, two thirds of people responding to an invitation to report adverse events say they experienced at least one reaction — most commonly fatigue, headaches or body aches.

The figures come from AusVaxSafety, the active surveillance program run by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Sydney, which sends follow-up SMS messages to vaccine recipients with a survey about potential side effects three days after vaccination.

Among 32,000 respondents who received AstraZeneca’s vaccine, some 25.4% said they “missed work, study or routine duties for a short period” after their first dose.