Clinical and Political Factors to Blame for Under-Reporting of COVID Vaccination Adverse Events: Study

A vial of some of the first 500,000 of the two million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Canada has secured through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ont., Canada, on March 3, 2021. Carlos Osorio - POOL/The Canadian Press

The under-reporting of adverse events linked to COVID-19 vaccination is caused by clinical, political, systemic, and media factors, says a recent study, which leads to misguided recommendations by authorities.

“The relative prevalence of side effects following COVID-19 vaccination is largely underestimated and does not correspond to reality,” says its author Patrick Provost, a full professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious diseases and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval in Québec City.