Global Vaccine Data Network

The Global Vaccine Data Network constitutes a network of sites ready to conduct globally coordinated active surveillance epidemiologic studies of the safety of vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, as they are introduced.

The Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) is a multinational, investigator-led research consortium with primary interests in the area of vaccine safety and effectiveness. We aim to facilitate collaborative studies of vaccine safety and effectiveness using health data from diverse populations in countries around the world. Vaccine safety and effectiveness research are required to help maximise important health, social, and economic benefits of vaccines. Serious adverse events following vaccination are extremely rare, so it is necessary to study very large populations in order to assess them. With international cooperation it is now possible to have a large enough population to conduct robust analyses of rare events following vaccination.

Vaccine effectiveness is responsive to national immunisation programmes, local disease epidemiology, and population characteristics. A coordinated global effort to assess vaccine effectiveness in diverse settings is necessary to get the best outcomes from vaccines.

The GVDN is a network of collaborators with capacity in vaccine data linkage supported by a world class coordinating centre. The GVDN currently consists of 21 members in 17 countries and is expanding.

Through a sustainable consortium that has an agreed governance and participation structure with agreed common data models, vaccine questions can be addressed in a more rapid, efficient, and cost-effective manner than previously achieved.

Vaccines are a great example of the truism that prevention is better than cure. They are also an exception to the rule that modern medicine tends to be reactive rather than proactive. However, vaccine hesitancy – concerns about vaccinating oneself or one’s children – is weakening vaccination programs globally. Rigorous and objective vaccine safety science is critical for vaccine confidence.

The Global Vaccine Data Network welcomes your enquiries and comments. Please contact us.