Coronavirus: Firm to keep tabs on vaccine side effects

The Department of Health is concerned Australians who receive a COVID-19 vaccine may experience side effects.

The Department of Health is concerned that Australians who receive a COVID-19 vaccine may experience side effects and is proposing to monitor them through surveillance activities.

In a call-out posted on AusTender, the department is searching for an organisation with “demonstrated experience in research and surveillance ­activities” to bolster a “national active surveillance system capable of actively capturing ­adverse events following immunisation”.

It comes as the Morrison government locked in a guarantee for the Australia-wide supply of the world’s first potential COVID-19 vaccine, under a deal signed with Britain-based drug giant AstraZeneca.

In its post, the Department of Health said it was looking to “build upon and incorporate the existing safety networks” to proactively monitor adverse events following immunisations under the National Immunisation Program, including any potential coronavirus vaccine.

“The tenderer should demonstrate their ability to deliver the project as an ongoing national platform for enhanced surveillance activities,” the advertisement says.

It stipulates that the chosen company must be able to commence surveillance activities from December, with the project expected to run for a minimum of two years.

There are 31 vaccine candidates for the coronavirus being trialled, ­according to the World Health Organisation, with a further 142 in the preclinical evaluation stage.

The Australian understands the surveillance program will build upon the existing AusVax Safety System that monitors the safety of vaccines, as well as any vaccine safety issues that arise following immunisation.

AusVaxSafety, led by the ­National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and funded by the Department of Health, was initially established as a collaborative initiative to actively monitor the safety of influenza vaccines in children.

In recent years its role has ­expanded to conduct active surveillance of 16 vaccinations under the National Immunisation Program, including polio and meningococcal, as well as vaccines of “special interest”.

A source said the government was open to different proposals for tracing the experiences of those receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.