A vaccination center in Bangkok, Thailand (illustration). – Teera Noisakran / Pacific Press / Sh
- Is the Toulouse pharmacovigilance center (Haute-Garonne) overwhelmed with reports of side effects from anti-Covid-19 vaccines?
- This is what several viral publications on social networks claim, illustrated with a screenshot showing the alleged saturation of the e-mail box dedicated to this type of feedback.
- However, they are based on an error message relating to a related electronic mail: the pharmacovigilance center concerned does indeed receive all the reports that are sent to it, as it explains to 20 minutes.
What if the filling rate of an e-mail box dedicated to reports of side effects from anti-Covid-19 vaccines made it possible to demonstrate their considerable number?
This is the argument put forward, on social networks, by Internet users convinced of the dangerousness of the serums developed against the coronavirus. “Pharmacovigilance centers are saturated because of vaccines! In Toulouse, you can no longer report side effects following a vaccination by email. And for good reason: “The recipient’s mailbox is full and can no longer receive reports,” “says a viral tweet, along with the screenshot of an error message.
Pharmacovigilance centers are saturated because of vaccines!
In Toulouse, you can no longer report side effects following a vaccination by email. And for good reason :
“The recipient’s mailbox is full and can no longer receive reports. ” pic.twitter.com/2flXyRrlp9
– Yoann B. (@Yoann_IV) May 25, 2021
“Delivery failed for these recipients or groups […]. The recipient’s mailbox is full and cannot accept messages for the moment ”, can we read on this message, linked to a nominative e-mail address of the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne ).
Except that this return concerns the e-mail address of a CHU employee, and not the one to contact to report side effects, which is clearly indicated. on the hospital site : [email protected].
FAKE OFF
The address visible in the screenshot belonged to “one of the secretaries of the former head of department, to whom I succeeded, and who no longer works at the pharmacovigilance center, but who was still on the list. distribution of the pharmacovigilance address ”, explains to 20 minutes Professor Agnès Sommet, head of the medical pharmacology service at the Toulouse University Hospital.
“So it is not this e-mail box that is full but that of the secretary, which has since been removed from the list. We receive all requests addressed to us, and we process them, ”she adds.
No increase in reports, but a “busy” service
The address [email protected] is indeed very functional, as we were able to confirm by sending it an email. ” From the beginning [de la campagne de vaccination], all declarations related to Covid-19 vaccines have been received, analyzed and processed […]. All declarations are sent to the ANSM (National Medicines Safety Agency). Like all hospital services, we are very busy but not at all saturated with activity ”, specifies the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center (CRPV).
In fact, the latter has not observed an increase in the number of reports in recent weeks compared to the start of the vaccination campaign a few months ago. “These reports have occupied us since the beginning of the year, it is common for each new drug or vaccine, especially when it is fairly publicized: this was the case for Levothyrox, for example,” adds Agnès Sommet.
For Covid-19 vaccines, “the most commonly reported effects are local reactions, muscle pain or fever, which is typical of vaccines. On the most serious or unexpected effects, we take stock every week with the ANSM to see if any require special monitoring, ”concludes the head of the medical pharmacology service at the Toulouse University Hospital.
As a reminder, at the national level, the adverse effects of vaccines – like any drug – can be reported on a dedicated page from the Ministry of Health.