The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently made public a collection of previously undisclosed reports documenting adverse events that occurred after individuals received COVID-19 vaccinations. These reports, totaling 780,000, were submitted shortly after the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and outline various post-vaccination issues encountered by individuals, including heart inflammation, miscarriages, seizures, and facial paralysis.
Among the reports, one detailed a case where a vaccine recipient experienced a seizure and lost consciousness immediately after injection. Another report claimed a diagnosis of Bell's Palsy, resulting in facial numbness and paralysis. Individuals submitted these reports through V-safe, a text-message system established by the CDC to monitor potential side effects of COVID-19 vaccines.
Surprisingly, the CDC had chosen not to disclose the V-safe data to the public for years. Instead, it published studies characterizing the reports as providing reassurance regarding the safety of the vaccines. However, data released in 2022 revealed that nearly 8 percent of the 10 million users sought medical attention or hospital care following vaccination. Additionally, many others reported disruptions to their daily lives, such as missing school, work, or other routine activities.
In January, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the release of the V-safe data and also mandated the disclosure of free-text entries where individuals could describe their experiences. The judge dismissed the government's claims that processing the responses and redacting sensitive information would be burdensome. The initial two batches of reports, totaling 780,000 from approximately 523,000 individuals, revealed numerous cases of heart inflammation, hundreds of instances of facial paralysis, and thousands of reports of tinnitus. Some individuals even expressed experiencing such severe symptoms that they struggled with suicidal thoughts.
It is concerning that the free-text section of the surveys served as the only avenue for individuals to report adverse events, including heart inflammation, despite the CDC's awareness of the potential for such events from previously released documents. Additional documents revealed that the CDC became aware of the possibility of COVID-19 vaccines causing myocarditis (heart inflammation) and pericarditis early in 2021 but chose not to disclose this information to the public.
