Dr Mary Ramsay
Head of Immunisation, Public Health England
From an outside perspective, it’s easy to assume that once a vaccine is approved and jabs are being administered into arms that the brunt of the work is done.
In reality, the initiation of a vaccination programme opens up numerous threads of work – all of which inform the Government’s and the public’s decisions on what behaviour, interventions and vaccination strategy are required to keep the UK as safe as possible.
Throughout the pandemic, the UK has remained a world-leader in vaccine surveillance, data transparency and knowledge sharing. Public Health England (PHE) has built on tried and tested surveillance systems, which are used to monitor other vaccination programmes such as seasonal influenza.
PHE monitors vaccine coverage, vaccine effectiveness, the number of hospitalisations and deaths prevented by vaccination and the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in the population.
This data has been fundamental in the fine-tuning of our vaccination strategy and the wider public health response, including helping the Government to decide when it is safe to lift restrictions.
We also use this data to inform the public about the benefits of vaccination; this helps them to make an informed choice to accept vaccination.
The importance of monitoring vaccine coverage
Vaccine coverage – how many people have had the vaccine – is a key indicator of the success of the programme. Importantly, coverage data are also used to estimate the level of susceptibility in the population and identify under-vaccinated groups who can then be caught up.
We also use this data to inform the public about the benefits of vaccination; this helps them to make an informed choice to accept vaccination.
Data from these systems have also demonstrated the safety and real-world effectiveness of vaccines outside of the near perfect conditions followed in clinical trials.
PHE’s world-leading data on vaccine effectiveness after one dose and confirmed that using an extended schedule – with 12 weeks between doses – was the right decision. This allowed the NHS to use the supply to work through the vaccination priority groups at pace, preventing thousands of deaths and hospitalisations over the first three months.
Vaccine surveillance helps monitor and reduce risks
Our data on preventing onward transmission led to the decision for household contacts of immunosuppressed people to be prioritised for vaccination. The safety of the public remains the number one priority in all our work.
We will continue to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines and keep the public informed at every step, through transparent and regular publishing of surveillance data. This is integral in sustaining public confidence in our world-leading vaccination programme, while providing ministers with vital data to help us all return to normality.
