The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the primary federal-funded system for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S., released new data showing a total of 946,463 reports of adverse events following Covid vaccines were submitted between December 14, 2020, and December 3, 2021. This included a total of 19,886 reports of deaths, an increase of 354 over last week, with 150,946 reports of serious injuries, including deaths, during the same period, up 4,226 compared with last week.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released new data showing a total of 946,463 reports of adverse events following COVID vaccines were submitted between Dec. 14, 2020, and Dec. 3, 2021, to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). VAERS is the primary government-funded system for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S.
The data included a total of 19,886 reports of deaths — an increase of 354 over the previous week — and 150,946 reports of serious injuries, including deaths, during the same time period — up 4,226 compared with the previous week.
Excluding “foreign reports” to VAERS, 681,962 adverse events, including 9,136 deaths and 58,503 serious injuries, were reported in the U.S. between Dec. 14, 2020, and Dec. 3, 2021.
Foreign reports are reports received by U.S. manufacturers from their foreign subsidiaries. Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, if a manufacturer is notified of a foreign case report that describes an event that is both serious and does not appear on the product’s labeling, the manufacturer is required to submit the report to VAERS.
Of the 9,136 U.S. deaths reported as of Dec. 3, 20% occurred within 24 hours of vaccination, 25% occurred within 48 hours of vaccination and 61% occurred in people who experienced an onset of symptoms within 48 hours of being vaccinated.
In the U.S., 466 million COVID vaccine doses had been administered as of Dec. 3. This includes 271 million doses of Pfizer, 178 million doses of Moderna and 17 million doses of Johnson & Johnson (J&J).
Every Friday, VAERS publishes vaccine injury reports received as of a specified date. Reports submitted to VAERS require further investigation before a causal relationship can be confirmed. Historically, VAERS has been shown to report only 1% of actual vaccine adverse events.
U.S. VAERS data from Dec. 14, 2020, to Dec. 3, 2021 for 5- to 11-year-olds show:
- 3,301 adverse events, including 58 rated as seriousand 2 reported deaths. One death occurred in an 11-year-old girl from Georgia vaccinated Sept. 14, prior to the authorization of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine in the 5 to 11 age group.
The second death (VAERS I.D. 1890705) occurred in a 5-year-old girl who died four days after receiving her first dose of Pfizer.
U.S. VAERS data from Dec. 14, 2020, to Dec. 3, 2021 for 12- to 17-year-olds show:
- 24,359 adverse events, including 1,474 rated as seriousand 33 reported deaths.
The most recent deaths involve a 13-year-old girl from Texas (VAERS I.D. 1913198) who died 31 days after receiving her COVID vaccine. According to her VAERS report, the girl received her first dose of Pfizer on Aug. 1. Two weeks later, she complained of vague upper back pain and was diagnosed with a rare soft tissue cancer located on her heart despite having no previous medical history. Parents requested a VAERS report be filed in case her cancer was related to the vaccine. Her cancer and heart condition rapidly and progressively worsened and she died Dec 1.
The second death involves a 17-year-old girl from Minnesota (VAERS I.D. 1912785) who experienced cardiac arrest and died at home after receiving her first dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.
- 60 reportsof anaphylaxis among 12- to 17-year-olds where the reaction was life-threatening, required treatment or resulted in death — with 96% of cases
attributed to Pfizer’s vaccine. - 567 reportsof myocarditis and pericarditis (heart inflammation) with 557 cases attributed to Pfizer’s vaccine.
- 141 reportsof blood clotting disorders, with all cases attributed to Pfizer.
U.S. VAERS data from Dec. 14, 2020, to Dec. 3, 2021, for all age groups combined, show:
- 19% of deaths were related to cardiac disorders.
- 54% of those who died were male, 42% were female and the remaining death reports did not include gender of the deceased.
- The average ageof death was 72.7.
- As of Dec. 3, 4,538 pregnant womenreported adverse events related to COVID vaccines, including 1,428 reports of miscarriage or premature birth.
- Of the 3,249 cases of Bell’s Palsyreported, 51% were attributed to Pfizer vaccinations, 41% to Moderna and 8% to J&J.
- 784 reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome(GBS), with 42% of cases attributed to Pfizer, 29% to Moderna and 27% to J&J.
- 2,184 reportsof anaphylaxis where the reaction was life-threatening, required treatment or resulted in death.
- 11,514 reportsof blood clotting disorders. Of those, 5,112 reports were attributed to Pfizer, 4,101 reports to Moderna and 2,249 reports to J&J.
- 3,333 casesof myocarditis and pericarditis with 2,074 cases attributed to Pfizer, 1,109 cases to Moderna and 140 cases to J&J’s COVID vaccine.
FDA, CDC sign off on Pfizer boosters for 16- and 17-year-olds, suggest 3rd shot for younger kids may come soon
The CDC on Thursday signed off on Emergency Use Authorization of booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 16- and 17- year olds.
Approval from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came hours after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized booster doses for the same age group.
Walensky said in a statement initial data suggest a third shot will help strengthen protection against Omicron and other variants, and she urged older teens to get the booster.
The FDA on Thursday authorized the booster doses for 16- and 17-year-olds at least six months after receiving their second dose of the vaccine, the New York Times reported.
The FDA broadened Pfizer’s authorization to cover the younger age group on an emergency basis as initial research suggested the new Omicron variant undermines antibody protection of two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine.
Pfizer boosters will be available to 16- and 17-year-olds at least six months after they received their initial two doses of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines remain authorized only for adults
Meanwhile, the CDC today said it was “considering” boosters for 5- to 11-year-olds.
“We’re first starting to get our 5- to 11-year-olds vaccinated,” Walensky said. “We’ll look again at the 12- to 15-year-olds, of course, as with the FDA, in real-time.”
Roughly two-thirds of parents of elementary school-aged children are either holding off on getting their younger kids vaccinated or refuse to do so, according to ABC7 in New York.”