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.
Serious vs Non-Serious Outcomes
Not all VAERS reports are created equal. Understanding the spectrum of outcomes — from mild reactions to serious events — provides essential context for interpreting the data.
The Outcome Spectrum
Of 1,983,260 total VAERS reports, the outcomes break down as:
- 27,732 death reports (1.4%)
- 143,653 hospitalizations (7.2%)
- 356,123 ER visits (18.0%)
- 37,185 disability reports (1.9%)
Note that categories are not mutually exclusive — a single report may mention death, hospitalization, and disability. The majority of VAERS reports describe non-serious events like injection site reactions, headaches, and fatigue.
Which Vaccines Have Higher Severity?
Some vaccines have higher serious outcome rates than others, but this must be interpreted carefully. Vaccines given to sicker populations (e.g., pneumococcal vaccines given to elderly with comorbidities) will naturally have higher serious outcome rates due to the underlying health of recipients.
COVID-19 vaccines, despite their large total numbers, have severity rates in line with many other widely-administered vaccines when adjusted for the demographics of their recipients.
Non-Serious Reports
The vast majority of VAERS reports describe expected, mild reactions: injection site pain, fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle aches. These are signs of the immune system responding to vaccination and are generally self-limiting. VAERS captures these alongside serious events, which can make the database appear more alarming than warranted when viewed without context.
Key Takeaways
- 1.Only 1.4% of VAERS reports mention death — the majority describe non-serious events
- 2.Outcome categories overlap — a single report can be counted in multiple categories
- 3.Higher severity rates for some vaccines reflect recipient demographics, not inherent danger
- 4.Reporting a death in VAERS means it occurred after vaccination, not that the vaccine caused it