Authors: DATED: AUGUST 6, 2021 BY SHARYL ATTKISSON
As of July 19, 2021 there were 419,513 adverse event reports associated with Covid-19 vaccination in the U.S., with a total of 1,814,326 symptoms reported. That’s according to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database.
Report an adverse event after vaccination online here.
Each symptom reported does not necessarily equal one patient. Adverse event reports often include multiple symptoms for a single patient.
Reporting of illnesses and symptoms that occur after Covid-19 vaccination does not necessarily mean they were caused by the vaccine. The system is designed to collect adverse events that occur after vaccination to uncover any patterns of illnesses that were not captured during vaccine studies.
Read CDC info on Covid-19 vaccine here.
Scientists have estimated that adverse events occur at a rate many fold higher than what is reported in VAERS, since it is assumed that most adverse events are not reported through the tracking system. Reports can be made by doctors, patients or family members and/or acquaintances, or vaccine industry representatives.
Read: Exclusive summary: Covid-19 vaccine concerns.
Some observers claim Covid-19 vaccine adverse events are not as likely to be underreported as those associated with other medicine, due to close monitoring and widespread publicity surrounding Covid-19 vaccination.
Approximately 340 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been given in the U.S. Slightly less than half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the benefits of Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks for all groups and age categories authorized to receive it.
The following is a summary of some of the most frequent adverse events reported to VAERS after Covid-19 vaccination. (It is not the entire list.)
Most common Covid-19 vaccine adverse events reported as of July 19, 2021
Yellow highlighted adverse events are subjects of investigations, warnings or stated concerns by public health officials. For details, click here.
128,370 Muscle, bone, joint pain and swelling including:
- 39,902 Pain in extremity
- 37,819 Myalgia, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, spasms, disorders, related
- 30,138 Arthralgia, joint pain or arthritis, swelling, joint disease, bone pain, spinal osteoarthritis
- 14,682 Back pain, neck pain
- 5,829 Muscle and skeletal pain, stiffness, weakness
119,866 Injection site pain, bleeding, hardening, bruising, etc.
105,332 Skin reddening, at injection site or elsewhere, rash, hives
100,564 Fatigue, lethargy, malaise, asthenia, abnormal weakness, loss of energy
89,302 Headache, incl. migraine, sinus
68,252 Vomiting, nausea
68,064 Fever
63,133 Chills
60,913 Pain
49,574 Dizziness
34,076 Flushing, hot flush, feeling hot, abnormally warm skin
31,785 Lung pain or abnormalities, fluid in lung, respiratory tract or lung congestion or infection, wheezing, acute respiratory failure including:
- 23,005 Dyspnoea, difficulty breathing
- 1,398 Pneumonia
- 1,128 Respiratory arrest, failure, stopped or inefficient breathing, abnormal breathing
- 563 Covid-19 pneumonia
- 265 Mechanical ventilation
- 217 Bronchitis
30,909 Skin swelling, pain, tightness, face swelling, swelling under skin, hives, angioedema including:
- 7,579 Skin pain, sensitivity, burning, discoloration, tenderness
25,319 Heart failure, heart rhythm and rate abnormalities, atrial fibrillation, palpitations, flutter, murmur, pacemaker added, fluid in heart, abnormal echocardiogram including:
- 3,105 Heart attack or cardiac arrest, sudden loss of blood flow from failure to pump to heart effectively, cardiac failure, disorder
22,085 Itchiness
29,861 Sensory disturbance including:
- 8,236 Tinnitus, hearing noise
- 7,951 Abnormal vision, blindness
- 6,349 Ageusia, loss of taste, altered taste, disorders
- 2,249 Anosmia, loss of smell, parosmia (rotten smell)
- 2,075 Hypersensitivity
- 1,560 Sensitivity or reaction to light
- 890 Hearing loss, deafness