Australia’s active vaccine safety system
A new paper published in Vaccine describes AusVaxSafety's expansion from a small national initiative to a globally recognised model of participant-powered vaccine safety surveillance.
Led by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), the active vaccine safety surveillance system was established in 2014 to strengthen Australia’s vaccine pharmacovigilance framework by helping identify and investigate potential vaccine safety signals in near real time, complementing passive vaccine safety surveillance undertaken by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Over the past decade, the system has expanded from 24 to more than 400 national surveillance sites which actively monitor the safety of vaccines delivered in Australia through general practices, pharmacies, hospitals, schools, community clinics and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.
The paper documents how AusVaxSafety has evolved and adapted to meet Australia’s changing vaccine safety needs, giving immunisation providers, policymakers and the public with a detailed overview of its methods, operations and role within Australia’s vaccine pharmacovigilance framework.
The publication builds on earlier research comparing AusVaxSafety with active vaccine safety surveillance systems in Canada (CANVAS) and the United States (V-safe), highlighting AusVaxSafety’s role within a growing international network of active vaccine safety surveillance programs.
Read the paper
