A false “report” of adverse effects and deaths linked to vaccination against Covid-19 is circulating online

Has vaccination against Covid-19 in Europe caused more than 527,000 side effects and led to 17,500 deaths? These figures, which come from a leaflet whose photo is currently circulating on social networks, are false. The European Medicines Agency, although quoted on the leaflet, has data well below those mentioned there.

It comes in the form of a receipt and is entitled “Covid-19 vaccination report in Europe”. This leaflet, the photo of which spread over the social networkstheoretically lists the number of deaths and side effects caused by the four vaccines administered against Covid-19 in Europe, since the start of the pandemic.

Is the note of the « balance sheet of vaccination in Europe » so salty? It’s wrong

Although this leaflet refers to the website of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the figures do not correspond to those of the EMA.

The European Agency regularly publishes updates on the safety of the four Covid-19 vaccines administered in the Member States of the European Union, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Among the information communicated are the cases of side effects (including deaths) reported voluntarily on Eudravigilance, the pharmacovigilance database of the European Union since 2012.

Side effects are defined by the EMA as “medical events that have been observed after the injection of a vaccine against Covid-19”. Deaths are not counted as such: they are the result of a specific reaction following the injection of a vaccine (heart attack, heart problems, etc.).

Data for June 1 is no longer available because it has been updated. The most recent figures are those of July 4: they do, however, show the significant difference between the figures published by the EMA and those mentioned in the leaflet circulating online.

A false “report” of adverse effects and deaths linked to vaccination against Covid-19 is circulating online — ©R. Goodness

Source: EMA as of July 4, 2021 (Spikevax (formerly Moderna), Comirnaty (Pfizer), Vaxzevria (Astra Zeneca), Janssen)

Non-serious side effects in the vast majority of cases

There are two types of side effects: serious and non-serious. The majority being the “non-serious” ones: fever, muscle aches or reactions at the injection site which fade after a few days.

As of July 14, less than one percent of the side effects reported in Belgium had compromised the vital prognosis, 3% had led to hospitalization, according to the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP). In general, we qualify as serious the effects which « lead to death », “life-threatening », “require hospitalization”, or “induce other significant health issues« such as a »infirmity, congenital anomaly or birth defect”, is it specified on the FAMHP website.

Serious effects are treated as a priority. They must be introduced within 15 days while the deadline is 90 days for “non-serious”. “This may give a distorted picture of the proportion of serious (including fatalities) and non-serious adverse events in this report” we write on the FAMHP website.

An insignificant number of deaths compared to the doses administered

It is also interesting to put these figures into perspective with the number of doses administered since the start of the vaccination campaign in Europe. As of July 4, more than 35 million doses have been administered for the Moderna vaccine, 276 million for Pfizer, 58.4 million for AstraZeneca and 8.5 million for Janssen.

People who died following vaccination against Covid-19 therefore represent a tiny part of all vaccinated people. This probability is around 0.001% for the four vaccines.