Summary of Yellow Card reporting
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the executive Agency of the Department of Health and Social Care that acts to protect and promote public health and patient safety, by ensuring that medicines and medical devices meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy.
The MHRA operates the Yellow Card scheme on behalf of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), the scheme collects and monitors information on suspected safety concerns or incidents involving vaccines, medicines, medical devices, and e-cigarettes. The scheme relies on voluntary reporting of suspected adverse incidents by healthcare professionals and members of the public (patients, users, or carers). The purpose of the scheme is to provide an early warning that the safety of a product may require further investigation. Further information about the Yellow Card scheme, including its contribution to identifying safety issues can be found on the Yellow Card website.
The MHRA has played an active role in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. In relation to COVID-19 vaccines, the MHRA has authorised their supply following a rigorous review of their safety, quality and efficacy. The clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines have shown them to be effective and acceptably safe; however, as part of its statutory functions, the MHRA is responsible for monitoring these vaccines on an ongoing basis to ensure their benefits continue to outweigh any risks. This is a requirement for all authorised medicines and vaccines in the UK. This monitoring strategy is continuous, proactive and based on a wide range of information sources, with a dedicated team of scientists reviewing information daily to look for safety issues or unexpected rare events.
This report summarises information received via the Yellow Card scheme and will be published regularly to include other safety investigations carried out by the MHRA under the COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance Strategy.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions
COVID-19 Vaccine reports
The COVID-19 vaccine reports contain a complete listing of all suspected adverse reactions that have been reported to the MHRA via the Yellow Card scheme for all COVID-19 vaccines. This includes all reports received from healthcare professionals, members of the public, and pharmaceutical companies. The information in the reports is updated in line with our summary of Yellow Card reporting publication.
This information does not represent an overview of the potential side effects associated with the vaccines. A list of the recognised adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccines is provided in the information for healthcare professionals and the recipient information here.
Conclusions on the safety and risks of the vaccines cannot be made on the data shown in the reports alone. Therefore, when reviewing the data within the reports it is important to do so in the context of the essential guidance at the bottom of the report to ensure that you do not misinterpret the data.
Please select from the links below to go to our Yellow Card website and view the reports for each vaccine.