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.
Do Vaccine Side Effects Go Away?
Analysis of recovery status in VAERS reports. The majority of adverse events resolve, but understanding what "not recovered" means requires important context.
Understanding Recovery Status
VAERS tracks whether people recover from reported adverse events, but this data comes with important caveats. Of 2,508,101 reports with recovery status information:
- Recovered: 964,443 (38.5%)
- Not recovered: 575,989 (23.0%)
- Unknown: 967,669 (38.6%)
However, "not recovered" doesn't necessarily mean permanent injury. It often means the condition was ongoing at the time the report was filed, which could be days, weeks, or months after vaccination.
What "Not Recovered" Really Means
The "not recovered" category includes several scenarios:
- Ongoing at time of report: Symptoms that hadn't resolved when the report was submitted
- Chronic conditions: Pre-existing conditions that may have been exacerbated
- Incomplete information: Cases where follow-up information wasn't available
- Permanent sequelae: True permanent effects (the minority of cases)
Importantly, VAERS is a passive surveillance system. Many people who recover completely may never submit follow-up information to update their recovery status.
COVID-19 Vaccine Recovery Patterns
For COVID-19 vaccines, 29.8% of reports indicate recovery, with 32.8% listed as not recovered. This pattern is similar to other vaccines and likely reflects the high volume of COVID-19 vaccine reports and the various types of symptoms reported.
Many COVID-19 vaccine "not recovered" reports involve common symptoms like fatigue or headache that were ongoing when the report was filed, rather than permanent disabilities.
Vaccines with Higher Non-Recovery Rates
Some vaccines show higher rates of "not recovered" status, but this often reflects the nature of the population receiving them or the types of symptoms commonly reported:
- LYME: 48.3% not recovered (1,132 of 2,344 reports)
- PNC21: 38.7% not recovered (571 of 1,474 reports)
- UNK: 32.8% not recovered (9,417 of 28,738 reports)
- COVID19: 32.8% not recovered (352,659 of 1,076,320 reports)
- PNC20: 30.4% not recovered (2,100 of 6,918 reports)
These differences may reflect various factors including the age and health status of recipients, the types of adverse events commonly reported for each vaccine, and reporting patterns rather than inherent differences in recovery likelihood.
The Reporting Timeline Factor
A critical limitation is timing. VAERS reports are often filed shortly after vaccination when symptoms first appear. If someone experiences fatigue for a week after vaccination, they might report "not recovered" on day 3, even though they fully recover by day 7.
Unlike controlled clinical studies, VAERS doesn't systematically follow up with reporters to update recovery status. This creates a bias toward "not recovered" classifications for conditions that would eventually resolve.
Clinical Context
Clinical trials and active surveillance studies generally show higher recovery rates than VAERS suggests. For example:
- Most injection site reactions resolve within 1-3 days
- Systemic symptoms like fever and fatigue typically last 1-2 days
- Even more serious events like myocarditis often have good outcomes with treatment
The controlled environment of clinical trials allows for better tracking of symptom resolution compared to the voluntary, passive VAERS system.
Key Takeaways
- 1.38.5% of VAERS reports with known status indicate recovery
- 2."Not recovered" often means "ongoing at time of report" rather than permanent injury
- 3.VAERS lacks systematic follow-up, creating bias toward "not recovered" classifications
- 4.Clinical studies show higher recovery rates than suggested by VAERS data alone