Fact Checking Claims About VAERS and COVID-19 Vaccine Data

People are misusing information provided to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event System.

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After Twitter suspended Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account permanently “for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” Rep. Chip Roy tweeted a chart with supposed COVID-19 vaccine data that Greene had previously tweeted. Roy’s tweet complained that Greene shared data from VAERS (the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event System) that shows the “potential risk from COVID vax” and that “#BigHealthcare doesn’t want us to discuss this.” 

 

Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, tweeted a similar claim: 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Not happy to see Chip Roy defending MTG.

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  2. Avatar photo
    BikerChick

    Why is there no alternative to VAERS? Oh wait, there is. It's called the v-safe app and the data is hidden from the general public. Nothing like informed consent.

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    Farhall

    For those who haven't done so, consider actually going to VAERS and looking at the side effects of the COVID vaccines. I've extracted a number of side effects in VAERS that are extremely interesting.

    First. Dispact fact check team, I am slightly disappointed here. The chart you showed claims a staggering 21,000 deaths reported in VAERS, but the actual numbers from VAERS for any side effect including the word "death" are:

    - Death (7,840)
    - Near Death Experience (186)
    - Sudden Death (139) [I'm assuming Mortal Kombat?]
    - Foetal Death (112)
    - Fear of Death (43)
    - Brain Death (38)
    - Sudden Cardiac Death (33) [isn't it usually arrest?]
    - Cardiac Death (11)
    - Death of Relative (10) [Get a covid shot and grandma dies?]
    - Maternal Death during Childbirth (2)
    - Clinical Death (1)
    - Premature Baby Death (1)
    - Cell Death (1) [Fairly certain we all have dead cells]
    - Death of Pet (1) [Bad dog!]

    Even if we add all of these up, without even checking the veracity of these unverified reports, that tweet by Greene is off by more than 50%. Though that's probably not a shock to anyone that they can't be bothered with inconvenient things such as checking their own sources. Can't even mislead properly.

    Having said that, I find it my Patriotic Duty to highlight the following adverse reactions in VAERS to fellow Dispatch readers. Please be careful because the Covid 19 vaccine may cause (and yes, every single one of these is in VAERS):

    - Accidents (both at work AND at home)
    - Acupuncture
    - Anal Dilation (this one's for the gays)
    - Asymptomatic Covid 19 (no, really, this is an adverse event apparently and not the desired outcome)
    - Bite (yes, you may be bitten, apparently)
    - Confirmed e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury
    - Covid 19 immunisation (yes, this is also a side-effect)
    - Elective surgery
    - Evidence based treatment
    - Fear of weight gain
    - Homosexuality (Ahem)
    - Live birth
    - Low income
    - Marital problem
    - Massage (why couldn't I get this adverse event?)
    - Neglect of Personal Appearance
    - No Adverse Event (11,866 entries. I guess you can sorta count these as deaths?)
    - Normal Labor
    - Retirement
    - SARS-COV-2 TEST
    - Sunburn
    - Tattoo
    - Unintended pregnancy
    - Unwanted pregnancy
    - Vegan (uh-oh! Don't get vaccinated if you like steak!!)

    All of the above are taken from VAERS. You can check yourself if you want.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Char T

      "Vegan (uh-oh! Don't get vaccinated if you like steak!!)"

      I needed this today! It's Friday, but it feels like Monday. Or at least, it feels like Monday for those who have a Mon-Fri working schedule. Appreciate your deep dive into the database!

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  4. Reebah

    Does the VAER site work like NHTSA site? When the quantity of negative information on a particular car issue gets large enough, they force an inquiry? It would be nice to get that feedback.

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    Harry Paget

    Joe Rogan is like Gwyneth Paltrow for men.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Ben Connelly

      Where does this fact check mention Joe Rogan?

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      Kmregan7

      I snort-laughed out loud at this and made my kids laugh (I couldn't exactly explain what was funny, but you still got three people to laugh at your comment)...

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    3. Scott N.

      I am sad I only have one like to give this.

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  6. TSut

    I love the Dispatch in general, but this "fact check" is close to a deal breaker. I guess you really are a mainstream media site under the influence of pharma and the mainstream media you purport to be an alternative. You suppress truth as it comes to Covid, vaccines and treatments. This is a propaganda fact check. You reject information provided by Drs Peter McCullough and Robert Malone. You disparage scientists way smarter than me. I know he is a wrestling guy and not a scientist, but Joe Rogan is bring this topic to millions now that he had his own experience with Covid, Ivermectin and owned Sangya Gupta on his program. He gave voice to both doctors. Del Bigtree has a fabulous weekly show the Highwire with links to sources. Too bad you refuse to dig in and bring truth to your subscribers. I'm sure the comments will reveal I'm an outlier. You will see more and more challenge the government narrative as 2022 progresses.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Pat @ Tavi Hall

      Anyone can submit anything. Totally unverified. And if I'm reading between the lines on this story, the government monitors have to ask to remove submissions. https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpmp7/anti-vaxxers-misuse-federal-data-to-falsely-claim-covid-vaccines-are-dangerous

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    2. Kyle Brede

      Ha Ha! You said Joe Rogan.

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    3. R. Wallis

      If my 96 year old Grandmother got the COVID-19 vaccine, then had a heart attack and died 6 months later, I could enter that information into the VAERS system and attribute the death to the vaccine even though my Grandmother was 96. No medical professional's opinion is used in the reporting system, but my personal input will now count that case as a COVID death due to the vaccine. That is the main reason why using the VAERS database as a source is bad, not including the capacity for fraud it enables as well.

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        Yorg

        If you’re 96 yo Grandmother got the shot and then sneezed twice you could report that to VAERS…

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        Mudskipper

        I don't think you even need a 96-year-old grandmother who died. You could invent a report from whole cloth. I would not be surprised if many anti-vaxxers have done so.

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          Aylene Wright

          Or decided to report that a 99 year old woman with the initials BW died after getting a booster, because they saw that claim on Facebook.

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    4. S Castro

      This is satire, right?

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        Kmregan7

        Is there some kind of word search used by conspiracy theorist trolls that brings them out whenever something is mentioned?

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      Don S.

      The way I I understand the VAERS system and the disclaimer associated with it is this system reports information based on anecdotal reports. That does not mean it should be disregarded but the strength of its reliability can certainly be questioned. What I want to bring up is our own experiences. Does your social circle include many vaccinated people and if so, how many have had serious adverse reactions to the vaccine? In my own social circle I probably know more people who have been vaccinated than I do those who have not been vaccinated. I believe I have a wide enough social circle through my work and church to be able to use what I have personally observed to help guide me in my discernment concerning the vaccines and treatments. First my own personal experience - I have been vaccinated and gotten the booster with no adverse reactions other than a sore arm. I have been tested multiple times (about 18 times) because of my work and I have never tested positive for Covid. Do I know anyone who has had an severe adverse reaction? - yes I do and it was scary but it has been only one person. One of my relatives had a severe reaction on the first shot of one of the MRNA vaccines. Here is the thing, she still went and got the the second shot. Had another severe reaction but they were prepared for it. She did the shots because we had relatives that had died from Covid. This relative's reaction is probably in the VAERS system. Anecdotally the only people I personally know that have died are those who were unvaccinated. Out of all the people I am personally aware of, my data tends to match with what I am hearing from the Dispatch and "mainstream" media.

      My point here is that when I compare the messaging that you are referring to and messaging I am reading here and other "mainstream" media like the Wall Street Journal (plus conversing with my doctor brother-in-law and my doctor son-in-law who are both seeing covid patients) and then add my own experiences, I do not come to the same conclusions you do. But then I am not you and I have no idea what your life experiences are that would lead you to call this propaganda. I am not trying to disparage your comment but for me it does seem to be as an outlier.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    In channeling my inner Bob Dole, if someone reports an adverse event in VAERS, are they now allowed to vote in Chicago?

    Asking for a friend, of course.

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    Andrewabranch

    I'd still like to see more on this. For example, the day 0-2 claim by Sen. Ron Johnson. I know the people in my life who push the VAERS stuff have shown in *many* other ways how poor their discernment is.

    But there's quite literally a bridge on I-40 at Research Triangle Park that has spray-painted "The covid vax killed my son" and "the covid vax has killed 20,000." It's an elephant in the room these kinds of fact-checking posts can't address.

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      Andrewabranch

      Some VAERS truthers really think that tens of thousands are dead from the vax.

      Others will probably grant the assertions in this post and just think that where there's smoke, there's probably fire, so they don't want the vax.

      Others, like me, know that people die every year while getting their wisdom teeth removed. What's the difference in risk with the vax versus, say, the wisdom teeth risk? I'm sure some have actually died of the vax. I've seen a *couple* news stories.

      I just wish we could actually get past the "Well ackshually" fact-checking posts every few months to something more concrete. Like, why hasn't 20,000 reported deaths been cause for said further investigation that may or may not have been detected in clinical trials?

      I know what VAERS is, so what I want to know is if the CDC has detected any anomalies worth investigating in VAERS. Why or why not?

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      1. terikin

        Let's do some rough math. I'm an engineer, so I like math.

        In the US in 2019, 2.8 million people died out of a population of 328 million. So 0.85% of people died that year - before covid or its vaccines. And we divide that by 365 to get how many people die each day (on average): 0.0023% per day, or 23 people in a million.

        We now have 243 million people with at least one Covid vaccine dose. If we picked 243 million people at random, we'd expect 23 x 243 = 5,589 to die within one day of getting the vaccine. And double that for two days.

        So the numbers that we see in VAERS are well within the number of people who would happen to die of some cause. No conspiracy needed to explain them.

        (Note - I accidentally hit the post button before finishing, thus the edit to finish.)

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        1. terikin

          To be more thorough, about 2 million of the 2019 deaths were of various diseases - heart attacks, stroke, cancer, etc. I assume the remainder were accidents, suicide, murder, etc.

          So let's reduce my numbers above by one third. That still means that maybe 7,000 people would be expected to die in days 0-2 after getting the vaccine which lines up with the claimed VAERS data. And many thousands more would die within a couple weeks - far more than what was reported.

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            Pat @ Tavi Hall

            Math, I love it. Thanks for posting.

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          2. terikin

            And one more comment - VAERS is meant to include any adverse event, regardless of whether it seems related to the vaccine. Even things like car accidents. If a vaccine led to dizziness in rare cases, that could manifest itself in a driver losing control of a vehicle, and VAERS is meant to tease out connections to rare events.

            Now, there are underreporting issues, but they apply much more to people like me who had a sore arm and don't report it than to people who die soon after receiving a vaccine.

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        Nathan

        Remember when they paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for a few days, then restarted it? That episode tells me that they have been monitoring people's reactions to it with a willingness to intervene and investigate.

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      3. GregS

        "Why hasn't 20,000 reported deaths been cause for said further investigation that may or may not have been detected in clinical trials?"

        Who says it hasn't?
        You want them to announce a finding every time they find nothing?
        The default position is the null hypothesis. If you are doing a study to test a null hypothesis, you report your findings whatever they may be (and if the study is interesting, someone agrees to publish it).

        If you are just looming at a surveillance database and you find nothing interesting, you don't report that... it's not interesting.

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          Joshua Heslinga

          Yes, I think they should regularly be reporting on their investigation of VAERS data and when they find nothing. It would be of interest to many, I think, and that kind of specifics is the only way to move beyond this general point about the unreliability of VAERS data.

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          1. GregS

            Regular reports from VAERS saying "nothing to see here" could just as easily lead people to think they're hiding something. I'd prefer if they gave it exactly as much attention as it deserves.

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