Home Misleading: The Pfizer mRNA vaccine has killed more people than any other vaccine in the 30-year history of VAERS.

Misleading: The Pfizer mRNA vaccine has killed more people than any other vaccine in the 30-year history of VAERS.

August 12 2021

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Misleading: The Pfizer mRNA vaccine has killed more people than any other vaccine in the 30-year history of VAERS.

Fact-Check

The Verdict Misleading

A causal relationship between reported symptoms to VAERS and the vaccine cannot be established.

A causal relationship between reported symptoms to VAERS and the vaccine cannot be established.In late July 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that a COVID-19 vaccine might earn full FDA approval in the fall. Recently, Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, echoed a similar message and revealed that the FDA would give full FDA approval to Pfizer vaccine by August end. Following Fauci's announcement, there has been widespread vaccine misinformation from the anti-vax community. OpenVAERS, a U.S.-focused site that repackages and mispresents COVID-19 vaccine data from the official Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) website, has made several unsubstantiated claims to suggest that the Pfizer vaccine is dangerous. This misleading website has called the full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine "one of the most heinous acts of tyranny in American history." It further falsely claims that the vaccine has killed more people than "any shot in the 30 year history of VAERS." However, it fails to disclose that the figures reported to VAERS are unassessed or unverified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, the website provides a disclaimer stating, "The reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable." It further reveals that as reports are "voluntary", the data may be biased. VAERS is a self-reporting platform that encourages public members to report any adverse event after receiving a vaccine. According to its website, the primary goal of the tool is "to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines." However, it is vital to note that since the CDC does not verify the reported symptoms to VAERS, the figures are not an accurate representation of post-vaccination fatalities. The CDC calls people misrepresenting reports of post-vaccination fatalities a "mistake" and clearly states on its website that a causal relationship between reported symptoms to VAERS and the vaccine "cannot be established." The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.

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