Chris Seeks MHRA Action Taken On Adverse Yellow Card Covid Effects
Christopher Chope Conservative, Christchurch
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 92799, what regulatory action the MHRA has taken in response to the side effects detected as a result of the analysis of Yellow Cards; and how that regulatory action has been publicised.
Maria Caulfield The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
Over 90% of the United Kingdom population aged 12 years old and over have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with approximately 140,000 doses administered. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has monitored the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the vaccination programme and reviewed of Yellow Card reports of suspected adverse reactions. The majority of the Yellow Card reports received following COVID-19 vaccination relate to injection-site reactions and generalised symptoms such as ‘flu-like’ illness and headaches. Such symptoms occur shortly after vaccination and are not associated with more serious or lasting illness.
Where the MHRA has established a plausible link between a vaccine and a new side effect, warnings have been added to the product information for healthcare professionals and patients and published on the MHRA’s website. Few serious new safety concerns have been identified but on these occasions, the MHRA has issued press statements and letters to healthcare professionals to raise awareness of the symptoms. The MHRA has liaised with relevant health bodies to ensure information is included in materials issued to healthcare professionals and patients.
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