Fact check: No, the CDC side effect log doesn't show 'vaccine deaths'
The Gateway Pundit reported that, "Per the CDC, there are nearly twice as many vaccine related deaths SO FAR in 2021 (1,755) than all the vaccine deaths this past decade (994)." This is misleading and inaccurate, PolitiFact found.
Posted — UpdatedWithout mentioning COVID-19, a headline widely shared on Facebook raises an alarm about vaccines while referencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading federal agency fighting the coronavirus.
These are not counts of "vaccine deaths" — they are unverified reports of deaths that occur after a vaccination. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines have caused any deaths. And there have not been more vaccine-related deaths in 2021 than in the previous decade.
Claim manipulates unvetted data
Moreover, the database does not compare death rates associated with vaccinations to see whether they are higher or lower than death rates among people who were not vaccinated, said Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University.
Orenstein also said that given the national focus on COVID-19, people are more likely to report deaths following a COVID-19 vaccination; and given the focus on vaccinating the elderly for the coronavirus in care facilities, it’s likely there will be more reports of death because those older people tend to have other health problems.
Here’s what the CDC told us on the numbers
- Number of all vaccine-related deaths over the past decade: 2,928
- Number of all deaths after vaccination in 2021: 1,934
- Number of deaths after COVID-19 vaccination in 2021: 1,911
That means almost 99% of reports in 2021 followed COVID-19 vaccines.
The claim that there were nearly twice as many vaccine-related deaths so far in 2021 as the past 10 years is not accurate. We rate it False.
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