HHS Looking Into Vaccine Injuries

HHS says it is taking a series of actions to “strengthen how the federal government identifies, documents, investigates, and responds to health problems reported following vaccination, with a focus on improving patient care and generating better evidence about potential vaccine-related injuries.” A department statement says HHS:

• opened a National Institutes of Health clinic for studying and caring for patients experiencing health problems following vaccination;
• proposed reimbursing doctors for reporting suspected vaccine-related injuries to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System;
• required electronic health records to capture vaccine-related adverse events; and
• modernized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System to make reporting simpler and improve the tools available to researchers and medical professionals investigating potential safety signals.

“We must listen to patients and families who report vaccine injuries, not dismiss or gaslight them,” said HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “President Trump and I are building a health system that takes them seriously, follows the evidence, and uses what we learn to make vaccines safer. This is how we earn back trust in our public health institutions.”