In the last weeks, you could probably hear at least through the World EBHC day campaign about the CoVaST project that aims to actively monitor the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines in the World and fight against vaccine hesitancy and the mis/disinformation that abounds.

But have you seen the new CoVaST webpage? Our web studio designed it for you. Click here to check it out: https://www.med.muni.cz/covast.

CoVaST project is led by our Czech National Centre for Evidence-Based Healthcare and Knowledge Translation (CEBHC-KT). The global consortium of CoVaST was formed in 2020 and it is a collective initiative of JBI, Cochrane, GIN, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) entities around the world.

CoVaST Global is a consortium of independent researchers and research institutions to bring independent evidence on COVID-19 Safety Tracking globally.

It´s the first independent global study to monitor the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines in the World following booster doses and the long-term safety and effectiveness of existing vaccines.

The study protocol has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, with the identifier NCT04834869 and published in Q1 Journal IJERPH

We believe this work is highly needed for public awareness about vaccines safety.

Methods: A multi-country, three-phase study including a cross-sectional survey to test for the short-term side effects of COVID-19 vaccines among target population groups. In the second phase, we will monitor the booster doses’ side effects, while in the third phase, the long-term safety and effectiveness will be investigated. A validated, self-administered questionnaire will be used to collect data from the target population;

The primary objectives of the project include:

a) to estimate the prevalence of each local and systemic side effect of each COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers (HCW), old adults over +65 (OA), and schoolteachers (ST);

b) to evaluate the potential demographic and medical risk factors for side effects frequency and intensity;

c) to evaluate the long-term consequences of COVID-19 vaccines. 

More info about the CoVaST here: https://www.med.muni.cz/covast