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.
The 20 most commonly reported adverse symptoms in VAERS. Most of the top symptoms are expected immune responses — fever, headache, pain at the injection site.
The most reported symptoms in VAERS are largely what you'd expect from normal immune responses:
The prevalence of mild, expected symptoms at the top of the list actually provides reassurance: it shows that VAERS is capturing the full spectrum of post-vaccination experiences, not just serious events.
While most top symptoms are mild, some have significant hospitalization rates. This reflects that even common symptoms can sometimes be severe enough to require medical attention, particularly in vulnerable populations.
| # | Symptom | Reports | Deaths | Hosp. | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyrexia | 276,779 | 2,361 | 23,891 | 8.6% |
| 2 | Headache | 228,038 | 815 | 11,195 | 4.9% |
| 3 | Pain | 199,891 | 805 | 9,331 | 4.7% |
| 4 | Fatigue | 181,355 | 1,336 | 10,540 | 5.8% |
| 5 | Chills | 156,139 | 650 | 6,684 | 4.3% |
| 6 | Pain in extremity | 143,925 | 384 | 5,429 | 3.8% |
| 7 | No adverse event | 142,256 | 23 | 39 | 0.0% |
| 8 | Nausea | 135,876 | 964 | 9,042 | 6.7% |
| 9 | Injection site pain | 134,294 | 125 | 2,235 | 1.7% |
| 10 | Dizziness | 133,323 | 463 | 7,303 | 5.5% |
| 11 | Injection site erythema | 131,718 | 34 | 1,771 | 1.3% |
| 12 | Rash | 113,613 | 221 | 4,332 | 3.8% |
| 13 | COVID-19 | 97,623 | 7,316 | 35,295 | 36.2% |
| 14 | Injection site swelling | 96,522 | 28 | 1,407 | 1.5% |
| 15 | Myalgia | 95,202 | 258 | 4,011 | 4.2% |
| 16 | Erythema | 90,703 | 74 | 2,175 | 2.4% |
| 17 | Pruritus | 88,832 | 36 | 1,475 | 1.7% |
| 18 | Arthralgia | 87,171 | 191 | 3,806 | 4.4% |
| 19 | Dyspnoea | 85,976 | 4,203 | 22,749 | 26.5% |
| 20 | Vomiting | 79,547 | 1,343 | 11,544 | 14.5% |
As VAERS reporting normalizes following the COVID-19 pandemic surge, the data landscape for commonly reported symptoms 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 commonly reported symptoms 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 commonly reported symptoms 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 commonly reported symptoms 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 commonly reported symptoms 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 commonly reported symptoms 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.