Pharmacovigilance activities in the treatment of COVID-19

The unexpected pandemic initiated by the new coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) caused severe panic among people around the world since December 2019. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc, and Health Authorities have started to make announcements and studies have been started quickly, for effective treatment and vaccination. In studies, drugs that reduce the symptoms of COVID-19 and alleviate the course of the disease have been used. In addition to the effects of these promising drugs, adverse events and multiple drug interactions have begun to appear all over the world, as well as in our country. Therefore, pharmacovigilance is of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities have been taking additional actions and measures to carry out adverse effects monitoring and risk minimization activities of drugs. In our study, we have reviewed the measures taken related to COVID-19 in Turkey and around the world along with safety of drugs used to treat COVID-19 and pharmacovigilance activities during the pandemic. © 2021, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy. All rights reserved.