Search VAERS data

Expanded public access to VAERS data

On 8 May 2025, CDC and FDA widened public access to VAERS data in the CDC WONDER database and in the downloadable files. The aim is to show more about every reported event while still protecting patient privacy.

• Before May 2025, the public data sets held only the first report submitted for a patient, vaccine and dose.
• Since May 2025, they also hold secondary reports: the first report from a further source who had not already reported the same patient, vaccine and dose.
• The downloadable file therefore looks larger. Those extra rows are secondary reports that were previously left out.
• Secondary reports describe events that were already reported. They are not additional adverse events.

How to access the data

VAERS data is available in two ways: a menu-driven search tool that produces tables, maps and charts, and raw comma-separated value (CSV) files you can load into a database, spreadsheet or text editor.

Information that identifies the person who was vaccinated is never released. De-identified data appears four to six weeks after a report is received. The data changes as new reports arrive, so the same search can give a different result later.

What the data shows, and what it does not

Anyone can report to VAERS: healthcare providers, manufacturers and members of the public. That breadth is what makes the system useful for monitoring, but it also means a report on its own cannot show that a vaccine caused an event or illness.

Reports may be incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental or unverifiable, and reporting can be biased. There are real limits on how the data can be used scientifically, and it should always be read with those limits in mind.

• The number of reports is not evidence of a causal link, and not evidence of how often or how severely a problem occurs.
• VAERS does not obtain follow-up records for every report. When a report is classed as serious, staff request health records and other information.
• The data covers reports received from 1990 to the most recent date available.
• VAERS is not the whole safety picture for a vaccine and should be read alongside other scientific evidence.
• Public data contains the initial report only. Corrections and medical records gathered during follow-up are used by the government for analysis but are not published.

Where VAERS sits in vaccine safety monitoring

The strength of VAERS is that it is national in scope and can give an early hint of a problem. It is one part of how CDC and FDA monitor vaccines after licensing. When VAERS suggests a possible safety signal, it is examined further in systems such as the Vaccine Safety Datalink, the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment project, and the FDA BEST system, which are better suited to assessing whether a vaccine and an event are linked.

CDC and FDA cannot give individual medical advice about a report.

Reports made in bad faith

Reports that appear false or fabricated to mislead CDC and FDA may be reviewed before they are added to the database. Knowingly filing a false VAERS report is a violation of Federal law (18 U.S. Code § 1001) punishable by fine and imprisonment.

Search and download the data

Use CDC WONDER to search VAERS reports and build tables, maps and charts online. For larger analysis, download the raw data files and read them with a spreadsheet or database tool. The VAERS data use guide explains each field and how the data should be interpreted.