Pharmacovigilance and COVID-19 - vaccines

Vaccines

On 30 January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of a disease known as COVID-19, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), constituted a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). One essential strategy to control this pandemic was the rapid development of safe and effective vaccines.

On 27-28 May 2020, the 42nd Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) addressed pharmacovigilance preparedness for the introduction of future COVID-19 vaccines. One of its recommendations was that infrastructure and capacity for surveillance of the safety of COVID-19 vaccines should be in place in all countries, and that existing infrastructure should be reactivated and engaged before a vaccine is introduced.