On the 4th of November 2025, 150 people came together both online and in Brussels for a milestone event celebrating the 5th anniversary of VAC4EU. The symposium brought together members, regulators, and key stakeholders in the real-world evidence landscape to reflect on achievements over the last five years and chart the course for the future. The day was filled with insightful discussions on the history and status of VAC4EU, looking forward to the future of vaccine monitoring within Europe. There was also a special focus on evolving challenges of trust and communication in public health.
Looking back: The past 5 years
The event opened with a few words from VAC4EU’s Financial Officer and Co-Founder, Patrick Mahy, who explained the significance of the venue, The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium. This was the location of the ADVANCE Closing Event where sustainability plans for VAC4EU were first unveiled. Following this, President and Co-Founder Miriam Sturkenboom gave a founders’ perspective, highlighting how VAC4EU was established from ADVANCE as a not–for–profit international association. VAC4EU has grown into a trusted network for vaccine safety and effectiveness monitoring in Europe, built on several COVID-19 vaccine monitoring projects conducted in collaboration with the EU PE&PV Research Network and industry-funded post-authorisation safety studies. The keynote lecture was delivered by Heidi Larson of the Vaccine Confidence Project, who discussed what institutions have done and can do to increase trust in vaccines in an era where misinformation is spreading rapidly through digital channels and political discourse.
The first panel began, moderated by Rosa Gini (VAC4EU), with panellists Peter Arlett (EMA), Heather Rubino (Pfizer), Susana Perez-Gutthann (RTI Health Solutions), Emilie Karafillakis (Vaccine Confidence Project) and Felipe Villalobos Martínez (IDIAPJGol). The discussion brought perspectives from different stakeholders regarding the past 5 years. Unsurprisingly, the importance of timely evidence generation was a key topic during the discussion. Speakers also emphasised the need for primary data collection to enhance speed by providing data in real-time.
Another key theme from the discussion was effective communication and patient and citizen engagement. There exists a dilemma in communicating evidence considering the inherent uncertainty of science. Using direct and oversimplified language risks losing nuance while stepping back from communicating what is unknown creates space for misinformation to take root. Panellists discussed the importance of transparency within the scientific community and ensuring outreach is a core part of scientists’ work, not an afterthought. Moreover, the scientific community must capitalise on effective messaging during moments of non-crisis to mitigate hesitancy in future pandemics.
Looking forward: The next 5 years
The afternoon panel was moderated by Miriam Sturkenboom, featuring Rebecca Chandler (CEPI), Niklas Blomberg (IHI), Charlotte Verhnes (Vaccines Europe), Maria Dutarte (EUPATI), Laura Cornelissen (Sciensano) and Jean Michel Dogné (UNamur). This discussion centred around where to focus for the next 5 years, emphasising the need for RWE in low- to middle-income countries and the importance of collaboration and “connecting the dots.” Moreover, the discussion focussed on how to balance rapid development of vaccines with integration of public perspectives and maintenance of scientific rigour. Specifically, an understanding that good science alone cannot counteract harmful rhetoric but can be used as a basis to build the strategy to tackle misinformation. This strategy could include early engagement with regulators and enhancing the patient and citizen voice in real-world evidence.
The panel discussion also turned to emerging changes which will come from the European Health Data Space (EHDS), an upcoming piece of legislation which has been designed to regulate the market for secondary use of health information data. Panellists pointed out the opportunity VAC4EU has in shaping this next step, through development of templates and designing levels of control over data. Additionally, the local expertise and knowledge the Data Expert & Access Partners (DEAPs) within VAC4EU offer is a huge strength.
The Closing Remarks section featured words from Peter Arlett, Head of Data Analytics and Methods Taskforce at the European Medicines Agency. Peter covered EMA’s vision towards 2030 on generating clinical evidence. He reiterated the contributions VAC4EU has made to pandemic preparedness over the years, highlighting that we serve as a complementary resource to the DARWIN EU network by answering complex research questions. Peter also presented some exciting new work from the EMA such as the RWD Catalogue (where VAC4EU features) as well as collaborations with other regulatory agencies around the world.
Eva Molero (VAC4EU Executive Board) delivered concluding remarks from the VAC4EU perspective. She highlighted the legacy of ADVANCE and the methodological innovation driven by VAC4EU. Then, she touched on communication with the public, a recurring theme throughout the day, highlighting the importance of establishing a human narrative when communicating evidence to the public. Increasing these efforts will lead to better transparency and citizen engagement and could strengthen the ecosystem of trust. Eva closed her presentation with a comment on the evolving technological landscape which will change how we interact with RWD and RWE.
VAC4EU’s five-year journey has been marked by resilience, science, innovation, and collaboration. As we look to the future, the network remains committed to advancing vaccine safety science, improving data timeliness, and becoming a centre for both evidence generation and communication. Thank you to all participants for making this event a success. Here’s to the next five years of impact!