In a groundbreaking multinational study conducted by the Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN), researchers have shed light on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines among a cohort of 99 million vaccinated individuals.
The study, spanning multiple countries, aimed to evaluate adverse events of special interest (AESI) following COVID-19 vaccination, providing crucial insights into vaccine safety.
Some of the countries included in the study are:
- Denmark
- New Zealand
- Argentina
- Canada (Ontario and British Columbia)
- Finland
- Australia (New South Wales and Victoria)
- Scotland
The study was published at the world’s leading scientific publisher and data analytics company for more than 140 years, Elsevier.
The study confirmed known safety signals for conditions such as myocarditis, pericarditis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, while also identifying potential new safety signals that warrant further investigation.
According to the result, the study covered 99,068,901 vaccinated individuals, analyzing the administration of 183,559,462 doses of Pfizer (BNT162b2), 36,178,442 doses of Moderna (mRNA-1273), and 23,093,399 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1) vaccines.
Experts chose thirteen health issues to keep a close eye on after people get their COVID-19 vaccines.
The health issues they’re watching were picked from a list made by a group called the Brighton Collaboration SPEAC Project. They chose these specific issues because they are the same ones for which recent data on how common they are (background rates) was collected by some research sites.
To identify these issues, they used a standardized system of medical codes called ICD-10. Among the issues they’re focusing on are several neurological conditions like Guillain-Barré syndrome (a rare nerve disorder), transverse myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord), Bell’s palsy (sudden facial muscle weakness), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (a brief but widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord), and seizures (convulsions that can happen with or without fever). They’re paying special attention to these because there have been some reports of these issues after vaccination.
They’re also looking at blood clotting issues, including clots in the brain’s veins, clots in the abdomen’s veins, and lung clots, because these could be signs of a rare clotting problem linked to the vaccine. Low platelet counts (thrombocytopenia) and a specific immune response causing low platelets (immune thrombocytopenia) are also being watched due to their connection to this clotting issue.
Lastly, myocarditis and pericarditis, which are types of heart inflammation, are being monitored. Each of these conditions is being looked at separately to understand how often they happen after vaccination.