Federal health officials announced several initiatives Thursday to improve care for patients reporting health problems after vaccination and strengthen vaccine safety research and reporting.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is aiming to improve how the federal government identifies, investigates, and responds to problems reported after vaccination.
The actions include a new National Institutes of Health clinic for patients reporting health problems after vaccination, proposed reimbursement for physicians who report suspected vaccine-related injuries, new electronic health record requirements, and an overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
“We must listen to patients and families who report vaccine injuries—not dismiss or gaslight them,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “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.”
The NIH opened a new vaccine injury-focused clinic on October 5 at its Bethesda, Maryland, campus. The clinic is designed to combine patient care with scientific research, allowing NIH clinicians and researchers to evaluate patients, investigate potential causes of reported health problems, and study possible approaches to care.
HHS also announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed reimbursing physicians for the time they spend submitting suspected vaccine-related injury reports to VAERS.
VAERS collects injury reports from health care providers, patients, caregivers, vaccine manufacturers, and others. HHS said the proposed reimbursement is intended to reduce barriers to physician reporting and encourage more health care professionals to document suspected adverse events.
The CDC is also modernizing VAERS. The agency solicited bids in August for a new contract to overhaul the reporting system and announced a new contract on September 28. The updated system is expected to improve mobile accessibility and provide additional tools for researchers and medical professionals examining potential safety signals.
Separately, HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is implementing standards that will require electronic health records to capture vaccine-related adverse events. The agency said the change will allow information about reported adverse events to follow patients between health care providers.
Rebecca Hardy of Texans for Vaccine Choice welcomed the changes, saying the organization supports efforts to “rebuild trust by listening to patients and following the evidence.”
“Taking reports of vaccine-related injuries seriously, improving adverse-event reporting, strengthening research, and connecting patients with clinicians willing to investigate their concerns are important steps forward,” Hardy told Texas Scorecard.
She added that improved monitoring following vaccination should be accompanied by informed consent before vaccination.
“For too long, patients who reported health problems following vaccination have struggled to have those concerns documented, investigated, and taken seriously,” Hardy said. “But better monitoring after vaccination cannot substitute for informed consent before vaccination.”
HHS said the initiatives are intended to connect patient care, medical records, clinical research, physician reporting, and federal vaccine safety monitoring.
