PLEASE NOTE: Due to intermittent outages and slow performance of the CDC VAERS database in recent weeks following updates each Friday, ICM Weekly Reports may be published and distributed several days after the data is refreshed. Thank you for your patience as we update weekly reports as quickly as possible!

Adverse Events Following Covid-19 Vaccination Reported to the CDC

The following is a summary of Informed Choice Maryland's weekly published reports on adverse events following Covid-19 vaccination. These reports aggregate data extracted from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) database, a voluntary reporting system established in 1990 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to capture information on adverse events following vaccination.

Week of Friday, October 8st
(VAERS data updated through 10/1/2021)

  • This week the number of adverse events associated with Covid-19 vaccination reported to VAERS climbed to 778,685, a 1% increase of 25,882 reports over last week, representing 49% of all events ever captured by VAERS since its inception. Notably, deaths associated with Covid vaccines jumped to 16,310 deaths, including 373 new deaths.

200 deaths occurred in subjects under 30 years old, or 2% of all deaths - in a population with statistically minimal risk of death from Covid-19.

  • Among those reported deaths, U.S. deaths associated with Covid-19 vaccination represent a staggering 68% of all U.S. deaths ever reported to VAERS.

  • There were 541 new adverse events reported among children under age 18 this week, totaling 23,480 reported adverse events among children associated with Covid-19 vaccinations. The total reported Covid-19 associated deaths among minors increased to 36 this week, including 3 new deaths among children 16-17 years old.

  • There were 11,530 adverse events reported in Maryland, up 149 from 11,381 reported last week, with no new deaths reported. Just under half of 86 reported deaths occurred in subjects under 65 years old.

  • There were 20,440 total reported blood clots and/or thrombotic events this week, of which 1,129 (6%) were deaths, with the total number of events climbing 530 from 19,910 last week.

  • There were 7,737 total reports of myocarditis and pericarditis this week, of which 125 were deaths and 846 were life-threatening, with the total number of events up 985 from 6,752 last week. This week 641 carditis events, including 78 which were life-threatening, were reported among children under 18 years old. Fully 8% of the carditis events were reported in children, with 28% of all reported carditis events occurring in patients under 30 years old.

  • There were 1,902 reported pregnancy losses and stillbirths this week, up 126 from 1,776 last week. Pregnancy losses and stillbirths after Covid-19 vaccination comprise fully 60% of all pregnancy losses reported to VAERS.

  • Covid-19 Removed Records Analysis - This report compares the Covid-19 adverse event reports contained in the downloaded datasets week over week since 7/16/21, and displays the number of records removed from the database each week. We found that an average of 107 reports, including an average of 6 reported deaths, have been removed from the VAERS database each week. The rate of removal has been fairly consistent over the past 12 weeks, with a smaller number of dropped records over the past 4 weeks. We calculated that if the average record removal rate over the past few months represents a constant rate of removal since the first adverse events were reported last December, close to 5,000 Covid-19 adverse event reports may have been removed from VAERS.

This analysis only includes records which were removed after having been uploaded and published in VAERS. We currently have no way to determine how many reports were discarded instead of being published, or how many adverse events occurred without being reported. Please see our note at the top of this email: the FDA and Harvard University estimate that at best, 10% of adverse events are captured in VAERS, and possibly under 1% of adverse events are ever reported.

  • Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturer Safety Comparison - This report is designed to provide insight into each product's safety profile (or lack thereof). The total adverse events and deaths associated with each brand of vaccine is compared with the proportion of U.S. residents vaccinated with each product. VAERS data reflect that all Covid-19 vaccines currently available may confer risks of carditis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, blood clots and thrombotic events, and other side effects which could be life-threatening or fatal.

  • Deaths After Covid-19 Vaccination - Weekly Change - This report displays the week-over-week change in Covid-19 associated deaths by age group and Date Received (the date the records were uploaded into VAERS), indicating the lag time in publishing VAERS mortality data.

  • Deaths After Covid-19 Vaccination - Onset Interval Graph - This report displays the onset interval distribution of reported deaths after Covid-19 vaccination in both graph and tabular format. (Onset Interval reports run directly through the VAERS user interface display the interval between the date of vaccination and first reported symptom only, although that isn't explicitly disclosed on the website.) This report accurately displays the interval between vaccination date and date of death, calculated from raw data extracts. Just under one fourth of all reported deaths after Covid-19 vaccination occur within 3 days.



  • IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - We noted last month, per the Technical Briefing issued by Public Health England on SARS Cov-2 variants, that 47% of Covid-19 Delta strain cases reported in England since February are among patients who received at least one dose of vaccine, while 43% of cases were unvaccinated; further, vaccinated patients represent 48% of hospitalizations and notably 70% of deaths within 28 days of diagnosis. Most concerning is the 1.02% mortality rate among fully vaccinated patients, in contrast to the 0.14% and 0.28% mortality rates among partially vaccinated and unvaccinated patients, respectively.


Please Note: VAERS is a voluntary reporting system which the FDA estimates may capture 1-10% of adverse events following vaccinations. A 2010 Harvard University study commissioned by the CDC found that fewer than 1% of adverse events are likely captured in VAERS. The data extracted to create ICM VAERS reports may grossly under-represent the real volume of adverse events which occur following vaccinations.

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