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Data source: VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System)

Data through 2026 · Updated quarterly

Built by TheDataProject.ai · © 2026 VaccineWatch

Important: VAERS accepts reports of adverse events following vaccination. For any given report, there is no certainty that the reported event was caused by the vaccine. Reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. Most reports to VAERS are voluntary, which means they are subject to biases. This data cannot be used to determine if vaccines cause or contribute to adverse events.

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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.

  1. Home
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  3. COVID-19 Vaccine
  4. Joint swelling
COVID-19 Vaccine×Joint swelling

Joint swelling Reports for COVID-19 Vaccine

#172 most reported symptom for this vaccine

5,170
Reports
18
Deaths
336
Hospitalizations
0.35
Mortality Rate
%
6.5
Hosp. Rate
%

Joint swelling and COVID-19 Vaccine

Joint swelling has been reported 5,170 times in association with COVID-19 Vaccine vaccination in VAERS. This represents 0.5% of all 1,121,388 reports for this vaccine.

Among these reports, 18 mentioned death (0.35%) and 336 involved hospitalization (6.5%).

Joint swelling is the #172 most frequently reported symptom for COVID-19 Vaccine out of 9223 total symptoms.

Disclaimer: VAERS reports describe events that occurred after vaccination but do not establish that the vaccine caused the event. Many reported symptoms may be coincidental or related to underlying conditions.

What This Means

Seeing 5,170 reports of Joint swelling after COVID-19 Vaccine vaccination may seem alarming, but context is critical. With 1,121,388 total reports for this vaccine (representing many millions of doses), Joint swelling appears in only 0.5% of reports.

The mortality rate among these reports is very low at 0.35%, suggesting most cases are non-fatal.

Important Context

•Association, not causation: These reports show Joint swelling occurred after vaccination, not that the vaccine caused it.
•Background rates: Joint swelling may occur naturally at baseline rates in the population, unrelated to vaccination.
•Anyone can report: VAERS accepts reports from anyone — patients, parents, healthcare providers — without requiring medical verification.
•Denominator missing: VAERS counts reports, not rates per dose. Without knowing how many doses were given, raw counts can be misleading. Learn more →

Similarly Ranked Symptoms

Vaccination complication5,233 reportsCold sweat5,226 reportsRash macular5,140 reportsElectrocardiogram abnormal5,125 reports

Quick Facts

Reports:5,170
Deaths:18
Hospitalizations:336
% of Vaccine:0.5%
Rank:#172 of 9223

Related Pages

COVID-19 Vaccine OverviewJoint swelling (All Vaccines)Why Raw Numbers MisleadTop Symptoms Analysis

Data Source

This data comes from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly managed by CDC and FDA.