Since December 2020, more than 469 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.S., and VAERS has received 10,483 reports of death (0.0022%),
according to the CDC. However, that statistic offers no insight into the cause of death for those people. If a 90-year-old nursing home resident got the vaccine and then died days, weeks or even months later of another ailment, the resident’s death would be reported to VAERS. Opponents of vaccination use the VAERS numbers in statements that suggest cause-and-effect conclusions. This misinformation then influences some people not to be vaccinated. In this case, the numbers are correct, but the presumed conclusions are not.
Meanwhile, what we do know for sure is that more than 58 million U.S. residents have been infected and more than 800,000 have died from COVID-19, and the vaccine is one of the best tools to slow the spread of the virus and save lives.
New research shows that adults who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 rarely die from the disease, although the odds of severe outcomes and death are higher in older adults and in those with compromised immune systems and underlying conditions.
Now we have all the information we need and can calculate the death
rates:
- of 10 unvaccinated people, 5 died → the death rate among the unvaccinated is 50%
- of 50 vaccinated people, 5 died → the death rate among the vaccinated is 10%