Guides and fact sheets

Government websites

VAERS is co-managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These are the agencies and programs that use or complement VAERS data.

• CDC vaccine safety — how vaccines are monitored after licensing, and what has been found.
• FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research — licensing and post-market oversight of vaccines.
• Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) — linked health records used to test signals that appear in VAERS.
• Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) — clinical consultation and research on individual cases.
• National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program — separate from VAERS. Reporting to VAERS is not a claim.

For healthcare providers

People who administer vaccines have duties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, and are encouraged to report much more widely than the law requires.

• Reportable events — the Table of Reportable Events Following Vaccination lists the events that must be reported and the time window for each.
• Contraindications — any event a manufacturer lists as a reason not to give a further dose must be reported.
• Administration errors — wrong product, wrong dose, wrong route or expired product, whether or not anyone was harmed.
• Follow-up requests — for reports classed as serious, VAERS staff request medical records and may contact the practice directly.
• Reporting for a patient — a provider can report on behalf of a patient, and the patient can also report themselves.

Materials and learning tools

• Printable VAERS-2 form and instructions, for reporting on paper.
• Posters and handouts for waiting rooms and vaccination clinics.
• Training material on what to report, and how a report is used.
• Published studies and summaries based on VAERS data.