PRAC meeting from 3 to 6 May 2021

10/05/2021

As part of its pharmacovigilance work routine, PRAC reviewed a number of safety signals related to COVID-19 vaccines. The main details are as follows:

  • Facial swelling with the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech). There is a reasonable possibility of an association between the vaccine and reported cases of facial swelling in people with previous histories of dermal fillers; it is therefore recommended that this possible adverse event be included in the summary of product characteristics.
  • Unusual blood clots with low platelet counts with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine: The need to refine the precautions regarding thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome was highlighted. Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome will be added as a major risk in the vaccine risk plan.
  • Unusual cases of blood clots with low platelet counts with the Comirnaty and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines: PRAC continues to monitor closely whether mRNA vaccines may be associated with rare and unusual cases of blood clots with low platelet counts, as has been reported with the Vaxzevria and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines. For the time being, there is no safety signal reported for these vaccines, since the observed cases occurred at a lower frequency than that occurring in the unvaccinated population. Monitoring will continue as necessary.
  • PRAC is evaluating reported cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), following vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Since GBS was detected as a possible adverse event during the authorization process, the holder of the vaccine authorization had been asked to submit additional data, along with an analysis of the information collected to date.
  • Reports of myocarditis and pericarditis are being evaluated with Comirnaty, but at present there is no indication that the cases are due to the vaccine. Nevertheless, PRAC has requested that the vaccine authorization holder provide additional detailed information in its next safety report, including an analysis of events that have occurred, disaggregated by gender and age. Consideration will be given at that time to whether regulatory action is needed. The authorization holder of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, since it too is an mRNA vaccine, has also been asked to conduct similar monitoring and present the results in its next safety report.

Source: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/meeting-highlights-pharmacovigilance-risk-assessment-committee-prac-3-6-may-2021

 

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