Contribution of real-life studies in France during the COVID-19 pandemic and for the national pharmaco-epidemiological surveillance of COVID-19 vaccines

During the COVID-19 pandemic, EPI-PHARE, a scientific group in pharmaco-epidemiology created by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) and the French National Health Insurance (Cnam), has reoriented its work program to enlighten health authorities in this health crisis. By exploiting massive and complex data of the French Health Data System (SNDS) from the beginning of the first lockdown in France in March 2020, we were able to publish numerous results on the use, benefits and risks of medicines, on the risk factors of COVID-19 before and after vaccination, and on the benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccines. Our results were widely taken into account by the French health authorities and allowed them to take informed decision in this pandemic situation in order to ensure the health of the population. (c) 2023 L'Auteur(s). Publie par Elsevier Masson SAS au nom de Societe francaise depharmacologie et de therapeutique. Cet article est publie en Open Access sous licence CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The French scientific group EPI-PHARE has reoriented its work to provide valuable insights to health authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing extensive data from the French Health Data System, EPI-PHARE has published numerous results on the use, benefits, and risks of medicines, as well as the risk factors associated with COVID-19 and the efficacy and risks of COVID-19 vaccines. These findings have played a significant role in informing decision-making and ensuring public health in France.