Vaccine Evaluation Centre

About the Centre:

The Vaccine Evaluation Centre is a non-profit centre of excellence involved in independent research regarding:

• Vaccine safety and effectiveness
• Evaluation of new vaccines
• Vaccine-preventable infections
• Enhancement of public immunization programs

The Vaccine Evaluation Centre (VEC) was established in 1988, making it the first formal centre for independent vaccine research in Canada. The Centre is separate from government and vaccine manufacturers and provides independent, expert, consumer-oriented vaccine evaluations to help health authorities select the best vaccines and immunization programs. High-quality vaccine research is the main goal of the Vaccine Evaluation Centre.

Why do we need a Centre?

• New technology allows vaccine invention to happen faster than ever before.
• Assessing vaccine quality before public use is vitally important.
• Canadian vaccine consumers expect high-quality evaluation of new vaccines. There are no short cuts: care, expertise and non-biased research are essential.
• Long-term studies must be done.
• Today’s successful immunization programs mean that parents today are unfamiliar with the diseases and their risks.
• The Vaccine Evaluation Centre helps ensure that safe and effective vaccines are brought to the public.

Current research projects:

IMPACT: Immunization Monitoring Program ACTive
IMPACT is an active, hospital-based surveillance system at 12 children’s hospitals across Canada. Each hospital employs a nurse monitor to actively seek target conditions. Since 1992, it has been sponsored by Public Health Agency of Canada and it is operated by the Canadian Pediatric Society. IMPACT screens every acute neurological admission (over 1,500 per year) for recent immunization; post-immunization events such as local reactions, thrombocytopenia, allergic reaction; and certain vaccine preventable diseases. Surveillance continues to reassure the public that vaccines are safe and that the benefits of vaccination for parents and children far outweigh the potential risks of serious reactions. It also gathers information on cases of selected infections, and helps determine the severity of these infections and assess the benefits of new vaccines.

The HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine
Sponsored by the BC government, this research study is designed to answer an important public health question: are two doses of HPV vaccine in girls 9-13 years old as good as three doses in 16-26 year old girls and young women? Dosing studies provide us the information we need to offer the best, most cost-effective vaccine delivery program.

Innate Immunity Study
The innate immune system is the part of the body that fights new infections. It is especially important in children who face many new infections. Taking a look at how the innate immune system develops in young children will help researchers to improve vaccination methods. At the time of birth, researchers collect a cord blood sample from babies who are participating in the study. Blood  will be collected blood again at 12 months of age, and again at two years of age.

Survey of parental attitudes towards immunization
This study looks at the attitudes, intentions and behaviour of parents who immunize their children and if these attitudes, intentions and behaviour change over a six-month period.

Supporting BC primary care physicians to deliver immunizations
This study examines the experience of the primary care physicians (family physicians, general practitioners and pediatricians) within the changing world of immunization delivery in British Columbia. In particular, this study examines why some physicians have continued delivering immunizations and why others have stopped. In addition, the study will identify what factors will encourage non-immunizing primary care physicians to resume provision of this important preventive medicine intervention and what factors are required to provide on-going support to those who do.

Evaluating the new 6 in 1 baby shot in Aboriginal infants
British Columbia began to use a 6 in 1 combination vaccine for infants early in 2009, sparing them from one extra jab at the 2, 4 and 6 month visits. This vaccine was well studied in Europe but this did not include an aboriginal population. This study compares the immune responses of Aboriginal and other infants to determine if they are equivalent. This is the first study to focus on Aboriginal infants in Canada in several decades and it is made possible by the excellent collaboration with several First Nations communities in BC.

08/27/200999