ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement L-Z 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 24
WONCA 2023 Supplement 2: WONCA 2023 abstracts (L–Z)
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SmartVax – our active vaccine surveillance journey – fluvax
2010 to nine million COVID encounters
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Dr Alan Leeb1,2
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Illawarra Medical Centre, 2SmartVax
Aim
In April 2010, the use of seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine in children was abruptly suspended
following an increase in adverse events. This surprised Australia’s medical profession and triggered
a chain of events and innovation that would shape the active surveillance of adverse events following
immunisation (AEFI). This formed the groundwork for a world-leading platform for COVID vaccine
safety monitoring.
Content
A trial was run at a WA general practice during 2012–14, where all persons immunised were sent an
SMS three days after vaccination asking if they experienced any reaction(s).
SmartVax further developed this prototype before partnering with AusVaxSafety in 2015, building a
network of 358 sites by 2020.
In 2020, a prototype COVID vaccine safety monitoring platform was developed with a network of sites
uploading data to an aggregated AusVaxSafety database to serve as an effective system for active
AEFI monitoring of all COVID vaccines.
Goals
As of January 2023, the Australian SmartVax vaccine-safety monitoring network comprised 615 sites:
471 general practices, 127 pharmacies, seven Aboriginal Medical Services, three hospital vaccination
clinics and seven local government or university clinics.
SmartVax has monitored more than 8.7 million vaccination encounters in Australia, including 3.7 million
in 2021 and 2.4 million in 2022. This includes 5.2 million COVID-19 vaccination encounters to January
2023, thus ensuring the safety of the Australian vaccination program.
SmartVax is a proven, timely and efficient active vaccine safety monitoring platform. Reporting to
the Department of Health, as well as state health departments, SmartVax has made a significant
contribution to national and international vaccine safety data and post-licencing literature.
AusVaxSafety is a world leader in AEFI surveillance and, in December 2022, received the Data
Innovation Award at Research Australia’s 19th Annual Health and Medical Research Awards.
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