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.
COVID-19 vs Influenza Vaccines
The two most widely administered vaccines in the U.S. have vastly different VAERS profiles. But the numbers alone don't tell the full story.
The Scale Difference
COVID-19 vaccines have 1,164,334 VAERS reports compared to 251,174 for influenza vaccines. That's a 5x difference. But this comparison requires context:
- Time period: Flu vaccines have been in VAERS since 1990 (35+ years). COVID-19 vaccines only since December 2020.
- Dose volume: Over 670 million COVID-19 doses were administered in ~3 years, while flu doses average ~150 million per year.
- Reporting mandates: COVID-19 vaccines had mandatory reporting requirements for certain events under EUA.
- Public awareness: COVID-19 vaccines received unprecedented media attention, driving more voluntary reporting.
Outcome Comparisons
The death report rate for COVID-19 vaccines is 2.32% of reports, compared to 0.87% for influenza. The hospitalization rate shows a similar pattern: COVID at 10.9% vs flu at 6.3%.
These differences are largely explained by demographics. COVID-19 vaccines were prioritized for the elderly and those with comorbidities — groups with inherently higher mortality and hospitalization rates. Flu vaccines are distributed more evenly across age groups.
What Fair Comparison Requires
A fair safety comparison would need: age-adjusted rates per million doses, stratified by risk factors, with background rate comparisons. VAERS provides none of these. For rigorous safety analysis, researchers use linked databases like the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD).
Key Takeaways
- 1.COVID-19 vaccines have 5x more VAERS reports than flu vaccines, but in a much shorter time period
- 2.Reporting mandates and public awareness drove COVID-19 reporting to unprecedented levels
- 3.Different demographics received each vaccine, making direct comparison misleading
- 4.Meaningful safety comparison requires per-dose, age-adjusted data that VAERS doesn't provide