Adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination continue to rise as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moves from updating numbers weekly in its Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to only once per month.
The latest VAERS data show 1,621,120 adverse events following COVID-19 vaccines were reported between Dec. 14, 2020, and Dec. 29, 2023. This includes 310,123 reports of serious injuries and 36,986 deaths.
VAERS is a voluntary reporting system co-managed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CDC designed to detect vaccine safety signals. Yet, it is estimated to represent only 1% of actual adverse events. In addition, it is widely known and provable that the CDC has deleted reports from the system to reduce the number of reported injuries.
Of the 36,986 reported deaths, 23,088 cases are attributed to Pfizer, 10,701 to Moderna, and 2,845 to Johnson & Johnson. Of the reported deaths, 8% occurred within 24 hours of vaccination, and 12% occurred within 48 hours.
Data for 6-month-olds to 5-year-olds
- 7,347 adverse events, including 311 cases rated as serious and 14 reported deaths.
- 5 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis.
- 37 reports of blood clotting disorders, which means the CDC throttled at least 12 reports of blood clotting over the previous week.
- 63 reports of seizures.
Data for 5- to 11-year-olds
- 18,432 adverse events, including 894 rated as serious and 33 reported deaths.
- 54 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis.
- 80 reports of blood clotting disorders.
- 207 reports of seizures.
Data for 12- to 17-year-olds
- 43,274 adverse events, including 4,817 rated as serious and 145 reported deaths.
- 285 reports of anaphylaxis among 12- to 17-year-olds where the reaction was life-threatening, required treatment, or resulted in death.
- 1,402 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis, with 1,227 cases attributed to Pfizer’s vaccine.
- 320 reports of blood clotting disorders, with 290 cases attributed to Pfizer.
- 55 cases of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), with 53 cases attributed to Pfizer’s vaccine. (The CDC has deleted several POTS reports, as this number was larger last month.)
Data for all age groups to VAERS
- 16% of deaths were related to cardiac disorders.
- 53% of those who died were male, and 41% were female. The remaining death reports do not list the gender of the deceased.
- The average age of death was 72.
- As of Dec. 29, 9,310 pregnant women reported adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccines, including 5,399 reports of miscarriage or premature birth.
- Of the 17,938 cases of Bell’s palsy have been reported.
- 3,502 reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
- 10,686 reports of anaphylaxis where the reaction was life-threatening, required treatment, or resulted in death.
- 8,995 reports of myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest.
- 49,416 reports of blood clotting disorders. Of those, 34,140 reports were attributed to Pfizer, and 11,240 reports were attributed to Moderna.
- 26,733 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis, with 20,379 cases attributed to Pfizer and 5,821 cases to Moderna.
The CDC uses a narrowed case definition of myocarditis. To meet the case definition of myocarditis, people must have had “symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath and feelings of having a fast-beating, fluttering or pounding heart, and medical tests to support the diagnosis of myocarditis and rule out other causes.” This allows the CDC to exclude cases of cardiac arrest, ischemic strokes, and deaths due to heart problems that occur before one has the chance to go to the hospital, obtain a diagnosis, or “dies suddenly.”
The CDC website does not state what happens to these cases, but there is no indication they are tracked or included in the CDC’s myocarditis numbers. - 89 cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, with 73 cases attributed to Pfizer, 15 to Moderna, and 2 to J&J.
- 995 cases of POTS, with 658 cases attributed to Pfizer.
Although healthcare providers are required by law to report vaccine adverse events to VAERS, research shows very few do. It is essential that anyone who experiences an adverse event report their own injury.
