Freedom of Information request about COVID-19 (FOI-21-281)
Published 28 May 2021
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Thank you for your FOI request dated 19th March 2021.
The 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.
One of MHRA’s main roles is to continually monitor safety of medicines and vaccines during widespread use, and we have in place a proactive strategy to do this for COVID-19 vaccines. Through this strategy we are able to rapidly detect, confirm, and quantify any new risks and weigh these against the expected benefits. We can then take any necessary action to minimise risks to individuals.
Given this explanation of the MHRA’s role, we do not hold the information you have requested and would suggest you contact Public Health England and NHSEI regarding this.
I hope the information provided is helpful, but if you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this response; and can be addressed to this email address.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines Division