The enhanced national pharmacovigilance system implemented for COVID-19 vaccines in France: A 2-year experience report.

In March 2020, World Health Organization recognized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emergence as a public health emergency of international concern. One of the major preventative measures developed against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was vaccines. To monitor their use and safety of vaccines from the first utilization in humans during clinical development phases to implementation for the general population, an enhanced national pharmacovigilance system was enabled by the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety in collaboration with the 30 Regional Pharmacovigilance Centres.

French organization for the pharmacovigilance of COVID-19 vaccines: A major challenge.

In this special issue, we present the main highlights of the first weeks of pharmacovigilance monitoring of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in this unprecedented situation in France: the deployment of a vaccination during an epidemic period with the aim of vaccinating the entire population and the intense pharmacovigilance and surveillance of these vaccines still under conditional marketing authorizations. In this unprecedented situation, the cross approach and interaction between the French pharmacovigilance network and French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has been optimized to provide a real-time safety related to COVID-19 vaccines. Every week, pair of regional pharmacovigilance centers gathered safety data from the French pharmacovigilance network, to acutely expertise all the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported with each COVID-19 vaccine within a direct circuit with ANSM.

The French pharmacovigilance surveys: A French distinctiveness, a real input.

Introduction: According to French guidelines on good pharmacovigilance practices, a pharmacovigilance survey is an assessment of the available drug safety data. It is requested by the French national agency for medicines and health products safety (ANSM). The objective is to validate a signal, to characterize it, or to provide strengthened monitoring of a drug.