Covid Vaccines: 36 Deaths in 2023 but Correlation Never Proven

There were 572 reports with at least one serious event associated with anti-Covid-19 vaccines in 2023, equal to 46.7% of the total reports on these vaccines. This is shown in the 2023 report on post-marketing surveillance of vaccines in Italy published by AIFA, according to which 49% of adverse events had a complete resolution or improvement. For 31.4%, the outcome at the time of reporting was considered unresolved, for 7.8% resolved with sequelae and for 2.6% the reported outcome was the death of the patient (36 cases).

"This does not mean, however, in any case - explains Aifa - that a causal link was found between the administration of the vaccine and the death. In 11 cases, in fact, essential information for the evaluation was missing, in others the evidence did not support any causal association with the vaccine, in 7 cases the patients were with a complex clinical picture, with the coexistence of important diseases, while in another 7 cases the death occurred many months after the administration of the vaccine, a fact that does not suggest any temporal correlation with the last administration". In another case, it was the report of the family's medical examiner that excluded any connection between the vaccination and the death, while an elderly patient was struck by anaphylactic shock a few minutes after the administration of the fourth dose of the vaccine.

“Three years after the start of the pandemic,” says the president of Aifa, Robert Nisticò , “the Italian surveillance system and with it the European one has demonstrated its ability to distinguish between coincidences and real risks. Every report has found space and attention. Every hypothesis has been explored. And no clinically relevant risk has been identified for anti-Covid-19 vaccines in 2023.” According to Nisticò, “vaccination surveillance works, but it is often not reported.” And so, while “every isolated event becomes a headline, the favorable closure of the signals becomes a footnote. The result is a growing disconnect between science and public opinion.” For Nisticò, the post-Covid-19 challenge “is not convincing, but making transparent. Because science that hides is destined to lose. But science that explains even when it says 'no alarm' can still win.”

The report also analyses the reports relating to non-Covid-19 vaccines, which, again in 2023, were 3,164 in 2023, a sharp decline compared to 10,967 in 2022 (-71%). A decline, according to AIFA, which "did not prevent the system from intercepting the most relevant signals, nor from accurately documenting the differences between vaccines". Meningococcal vaccines (18.6% of reports) and those against herpes zoster (11.6%) are among the most reported for adverse events. Reports for vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox showed a high percentage of serious events (41.9%), but without emerging as alarm signals. Hexavalent and anti-rotavirus vaccines saw a drastic decline in reports (-91% and -86% respectively), while maintaining constant surveillance. Overall, only 18.4% of reports on non-Covid-19 vaccines reported at least one serious event. And even in these cases, the majority had a positive outcome or complete clinical recovery: 88.6% of events resolved or showed improvement, while only 8.1% had sequelae or failure to resolve.

“The data from the Report – continues Nisticò – show how, despite public attention remaining focused on Covid-19, the Italian pharmacovigilance system has continued to work 360 degrees, documenting every event, of every vaccine. Silently, but with precision. The same precision is necessary for a correct reading of the data on reports. Because – adds Nisticò – considering only those with at least one serious event, the reporting rate in 2023 goes from 9.8 to 2 for every 100 thousand doses administered. A figure that is down 70% compared to 2021. This is not to demonstrate how much safer vaccines are today than yesterday, but to say how risky it is to automatically create causal links between vaccination and adverse events”.