Vaccine Safety

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting (VAERS):

VAERS is a national vaccine safety surveillance program providing a mechanism for reporting and analyzing adverse events following immunization.

VAERS is primarily concerned with monitoring adverse health events and we encourage reporting of clinically significant adverse health events following vaccination. Using clinical judgment, healthcare professionals can decide whether or not to report a medical error at their own discretion. For example, a healthcare professional may elect to report vaccination errors that do not have an associated adverse health event, especially if they think the vaccination error may pose a safety risk (e.g., administering a live vaccine to an immunocompromised patient) or that the error would be preventable with public health action or education.

The primary objectives of VAERS are to:
1. Detect new, unusual, or rare vaccine adverse events (VAEs);
2. Monitor increases in known adverse events;
3. Identify potential patient risk factors for particular types of adverse events;
4. Identify vaccine lots with increased numbers or types of reported adverse events; and
5. Assess the safety of newly licensed vaccines.

About the VAERS Program
Report an Adverse Event

Vaccines & Autism:

Immunization Action Coalition
Institute for Vaccine Safety

Website Resources:

Manual for Surveillance
National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Vaccines and Immunizations
Vaccine Safety on Febrile Seizures