BCHC supports strong vaccine safety systems

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BCHC has signed onto a letter led by Vaccinate Your Family to express strong support for the United States’ vaccine safety systems, considering them among the most comprehensive globally. Public policy that facilitates strong vaccine safety systems is in the best interest of us all.

Vaccines are among the most rigorously tested and safest medical products on the market, and COVID-19 vaccines – like all vaccines – continue to be carefully monitored for safety. Vaccine safety monitoring would also benefit tremendously from sustained increased funding to take advantage of new capacity in big data, understanding the biological mechanisms underlying adverse reactions, and genomics.

During the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, 12 separate U.S. systems monitored the safety of COVID vaccines. This network of monitoring meant there was tight coordination between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and government agencies, hospital systems, insurance claims data, and both health care provider and patients reports. As a result, public health officials were able to quickly identify any signal that could indicate a problem with the safety of COVID vaccines.

Only through careful oversight can we be better prepared for the next, inevitable pandemic. It is important to remember, however, that if these hearings are not handled carefully they can lead to unintended consequences. Our country is at a tipping point in immunization. Congress is uniquely positioned to assure the public that oversight of our vaccination safety systems is fair and unbiased, keeping our vaccines as safe and effective as possible.

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