Important: VAERS reports alone cannot determine if a vaccine caused an adverse event. Reports may contain incomplete, inaccurate, or unverified information. Correlation does not equal causation.
Who reports the most adverse events, and who experiences the most serious outcomes? Age is one of the most important factors in understanding VAERS data.
VAERS reports span all ages, from newborns to the elderly. But the distribution is far from uniform. Adults aged 18-49 file the most reports (558,025), which makes sense given this is the largest demographic group.
However, when we look at serious outcomes, the picture shifts dramatically. The 65+ age group accounts for 56% of all death reports and 40% of hospitalizations, despite representing just 20% of total reports.
The 0-2 age group has 149,466 reports with 3,406 death reports. This is a significant number that requires careful context:
The concentration of death reports in the 65+ group reflects a fundamental reality: older adults have higher baseline mortality rates. When millions of elderly people are vaccinated, some will experience serious health events purely by coincidence in the days and weeks following vaccination.
During the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the elderly were prioritized for early vaccination. This population was already at highest risk for COVID-19 and had the highest baseline mortality rate. The temporal proximity of vaccination and natural health events creates inevitable coincidental reports.
As VAERS reporting normalizes following the COVID-19 pandemic surge, the data landscape for age-related patterns in adverse events is shifting. Annual VAERS reports in 2025-2026 have returned to the 35,000-45,000 range typical of the pre-pandemic era (2015-2019), making year-over-year comparisons more meaningful again.
The HHS administration has signaled increased focus on vaccine safety data analysis, including the development of AI-powered tools for pattern detection in VAERS reports. While these tools are still under development, they represent a potential evolution in how adverse event data is analyzed and interpreted.
New vaccines entering the market — including RSV vaccines for older adults and pregnant women, updated COVID-19 formulations, and potential H5N1 avian flu vaccines — continue to add new data streams to VAERS. Each new vaccine type provides additional context for understanding age-related patterns in adverse events across the full spectrum of vaccine safety surveillance.
This analysis is based entirely on VAERS passive surveillance data, which carries important limitations that must be understood:
For these reasons, VAERS data is best used for signal detection — identifying potential safety concerns that warrant further investigation — rather than for definitive risk assessment. When VAERS surfaces a potential signal, it is investigated using more rigorous systems like the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and controlled epidemiological studies.
All data on VaccineWatch comes from the official VAERS public-use datasets published by the CDC and FDA. Our current dataset covers reports from 1990 through early 2026. We process the raw data without filtering or editorializing — every metric is a transparent aggregation of official government data.
As VAERS reporting normalizes following the COVID-19 pandemic surge, the data landscape for age-related patterns in adverse events is shifting. Annual VAERS reports in 2025-2026 have returned to the 35,000-45,000 range typical of the pre-pandemic era (2015-2019), making year-over-year comparisons more meaningful again.
The HHS administration has signaled increased focus on vaccine safety data analysis, including the development of AI-powered tools for pattern detection in VAERS reports. While these tools are still under development, they represent a potential evolution in how adverse event data is analyzed and interpreted.
New vaccines entering the market — including RSV vaccines for older adults and pregnant women, updated COVID-19 formulations, and potential H5N1 avian flu vaccines — continue to add new data streams to VAERS. Each new vaccine type provides additional context for understanding age-related patterns in adverse events across the full spectrum of vaccine safety surveillance.
This analysis is based entirely on VAERS passive surveillance data, which carries important limitations that must be understood:
For these reasons, VAERS data is best used for signal detection — identifying potential safety concerns that warrant further investigation — rather than for definitive risk assessment. When VAERS surfaces a potential signal, it is investigated using more rigorous systems like the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and controlled epidemiological studies.
All data on VaccineWatch comes from the official VAERS public-use datasets published by the CDC and FDA. Our current dataset covers reports from 1990 through early 2026. We process the raw data without filtering or editorializing — every metric is a transparent aggregation of official government data.
As VAERS reporting normalizes following the COVID-19 pandemic surge, the data landscape for age-related patterns in adverse events is shifting. Annual VAERS reports in 2025-2026 have returned to the 35,000-45,000 range typical of the pre-pandemic era (2015-2019), making year-over-year comparisons more meaningful again.
The HHS administration has signaled increased focus on vaccine safety data analysis, including the development of AI-powered tools for pattern detection in VAERS reports. While these tools are still under development, they represent a potential evolution in how adverse event data is analyzed and interpreted.
New vaccines entering the market — including RSV vaccines for older adults and pregnant women, updated COVID-19 formulations, and potential H5N1 avian flu vaccines — continue to add new data streams to VAERS. Each new vaccine type provides additional context for understanding age-related patterns in adverse events across the full spectrum of vaccine safety surveillance.
This analysis is based entirely on VAERS passive surveillance data, which carries important limitations that must be understood:
For these reasons, VAERS data is best used for signal detection — identifying potential safety concerns that warrant further investigation — rather than for definitive risk assessment. When VAERS surfaces a potential signal, it is investigated using more rigorous systems like the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and controlled epidemiological studies.
All data on VaccineWatch comes from the official VAERS public-use datasets published by the CDC and FDA. Our current dataset covers reports from 1990 through early 2026. We process the raw data without filtering or editorializing — every metric is a transparent aggregation of official government data.