October 4, 2021

How Government Data Is Being Misused to Question COVID-19 Vaccine Safety

From Consumer Reports:

Regulators have long been aware that the [vaccine] data can be misinterpreted. But the government makes it public in the interest of transparency. And despite its shortcomings, the data has, in some cases, helped detect legitimate connections between a vaccine and adverse events. 

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC and FDA, didn’t provide answers in response to a request for comment.

“It’s frustrating to have to deal with these misinterpretations, especially when they interfere in such major ways with critical public health issues like the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines,” says Susan Ellenberg, PhD, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “But overall, I still think transparency is better.”

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