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.
Pneumococcal vaccines protect against pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections. Given primarily to young children and adults 65+, these vaccines have extensive VAERS data spanning multiple formulations.
Common:
Side effects are generally mild and resolve within 1-3 days. The conjugate vaccines (Prevnar series) tend to cause slightly more injection site reactions than Pneumovax.
Pneumonia vaccines are primarily given to elderly adults (65+) and people with chronic health conditions. This population has a naturally higher mortality rate, so many death reports in VAERS reflect the background death rate of the recipient population rather than vaccine-related events.
| Type | Reports | Deaths | Hosp. |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPV | 71,157 | 305 | 4,359 |
| PNC13 | 33,058 | 593 | 3,225 |
| PNC | 27,970 | 1,436 | 4,854 |
| PNC20 | 7,154 | 84 | 347 |
| PNC21 | 1,543 | 8 | 54 |
| PNC15 | 1,188 | 12 | 64 |
| PNC10 | 45 | 0 | 2 |