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.
18,930 adverse event reports (-1% vs 2018)
In 2019, 18,930 adverse event reports were filed for Zoster Live (Zostavax) in VAERS. This represents 13.5% of all 140,312 reports for this vaccine.
Of these reports, 35 mentioned death, 790 involved hospitalization, 1,335 required ER visits, and 488 reported disability.
Compared to the average of 6,673 reports per year for this vaccine, 2019 was above average (+184%).
High report volume: 18,930 reports in a single year is significant. This typically reflects large-scale vaccination campaigns rather than increased risk per dose. Without knowing total doses administered in 2019, raw report counts cannot indicate safety rates.
This data comes from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly managed by CDC and FDA.