What is an ‘adverse event?’ Inside the recently released report on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine – CTV
March 9, 2022
A document circulating on social media and elsewhere is being cited as a smoking gun to suggest Pfizer knew its COVID-19 vaccine causes more “adverse events” than previously stated, a claim some experts say requires a more nuanced look.
Released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of a recent U.S. court order, the one-year-old, 38-page report of post-marketing data from Pfizer includes an appendix listing hundreds of reported adverse events from its COVID-19 vaccine, all of which are defined as being of “special interest.”
Whether the data is being, or can be, accurately interpreted is a point some experts are flagging as an issue with the document, particularly given the amount of real-world data gathered since then.
Experts say not every adverse event cited in the report can be chalked up to the vaccine, while others are consistent with the vaccine’s known side-effects.
CTVNews.ca spoke to two infectious disease specialists about the report to better understand what the data does, and does not, show.
