Question:
How do we know vaccines are safe?
Answer:
Only vaccines that are proven safe, effective, and of high quality are approved for use in Canada.
Here are some important things to know about vaccine safety:
- The vaccine approval process is more stringent than most drugs available in Canada.
- It can take up to ten years or longer for a vaccine to be developed, tested, and approved by Health Canada. Occasionally, the process can be expedited (happen more quickly) if a vaccine is urgently needed (for example, during a pandemic). No safety steps are skipped in these cases, and the vaccine must meet all the same safety requirements. An example is COVID-19 vaccines.
- Health Canada only approves a vaccine if it is safe, works, meets manufacturing standards, and the benefits outweigh the risks.
- Because vaccines are given to healthy people, including children, they are held to the highest safety standard—even higher than most drugs used for treatment.
- Like any medicine or supplement (including vitamins), vaccines can cause side effects. Usually vaccine side effects are minor, such as a sore arm or mild fever, and go away quickly. Many people who receive vaccines have no side effects at all. Serious side effects are very rare.
- A vaccine’s safety is continuously monitored following its approval.
- Canada has several advanced systems in place (at the local, provincial, and national levels) to carefully monitor the safety of vaccines and detect any safety concerns.
- In the rare event that a lot (batch) of vaccines result in an unexpected side effect, these systems can ensure that the rest is not used.
Date last reviewed:
Thursday, May 05, 2022