PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Coronavirus: Vaccination (22 June 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 187960 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, if he will publish (a) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's review of the study by Fraiman, J., et al., entitled Serious adverse events of special interest following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in randomized trials in adults, published in the journal Vaccine on 22 September 2022 and (b) the latest information his Department holds on rates of serious adverse events associated with covid-19 vaccination.

Asked by:
Esther McVey (Conservative)

No vaccine would be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) unless it meets our stringent standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

The MHRA keep all available evidence under review including studies, published literature and data arising from the widespread use in the United Kingdom and globally including the article highlighted. The MHRA communicates safety advice based upon the totality of evidence rather than the strengths and limitations of individual data sources.

The MHRA position is that the benefits of these vaccines in preventing serious complications associated with COVID-19 continue to outweigh the known risks for the majority of individuals. A summary of the MHRA’s safety review is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting

The MHRA publishes a breakdown of reports received by seriousness on the Yellow Card website, however it is not possible to calculate seriousness rates from this data.

Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
27 June 2023