Important: VAERS reports alone cannot determine if a vaccine caused an adverse event. Reports may contain incomplete, inaccurate, or unverified information. Correlation does not equal causation.
The 20 most commonly reported adverse symptoms in VAERS. Most of the top symptoms are expected immune responses — fever, headache, pain at the injection site.
The most reported symptoms in VAERS are largely what you'd expect from normal immune responses:
The prevalence of mild, expected symptoms at the top of the list actually provides reassurance: it shows that VAERS is capturing the full spectrum of post-vaccination experiences, not just serious events.
While most top symptoms are mild, some have significant hospitalization rates. This reflects that even common symptoms can sometimes be severe enough to require medical attention, particularly in vulnerable populations.
| # | Symptom | Reports | Deaths | Hosp. | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyrexia | 276,779 | 2,361 | 23,891 | 8.6% |
| 2 | Headache | 228,038 | 815 | 11,195 | 4.9% |
| 3 | Pain | 199,891 | 805 | 9,331 | 4.7% |
| 4 | Fatigue | 181,355 | 1,336 | 10,540 | 5.8% |
| 5 | Chills | 156,139 | 650 | 6,684 | 4.3% |
| 6 | Pain in extremity | 143,925 | 384 | 5,429 | 3.8% |
| 7 | No adverse event | 142,256 | 23 | 39 | 0.0% |
| 8 | Nausea | 135,876 | 964 | 9,042 | 6.7% |
| 9 | Injection site pain | 134,294 | 125 | 2,235 | 1.7% |
| 10 | Dizziness | 133,323 | 463 | 7,303 | 5.5% |
| 11 | Injection site erythema | 131,718 | 34 | 1,771 | 1.3% |
| 12 | Rash | 113,613 | 221 | 4,332 | 3.8% |
| 13 | COVID-19 | 97,623 | 7,316 | 35,295 | 36.2% |
| 14 | Injection site swelling | 96,522 | 28 | 1,407 | 1.5% |
| 15 | Myalgia | 95,202 | 258 | 4,011 | 4.2% |
| 16 | Erythema | 90,703 | 74 | 2,175 | 2.4% |
| 17 | Pruritus | 88,832 | 36 | 1,475 | 1.7% |
| 18 | Arthralgia | 87,171 | 191 | 3,806 | 4.4% |
| 19 | Dyspnoea | 85,976 | 4,203 | 22,749 | 26.5% |
| 20 | Vomiting | 79,547 | 1,343 | 11,544 | 14.5% |