VACCINE RESOURCE COMMITTEE

of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association

View Full List of Vaccine Questions Here

COVID-19 Vaccine Question #5:

What are the adverse event risks from the vaccine?

Having the illness itself has a much higher risk than the vaccine, as adverse events are generally rare.

Adverse events generally very rarely occur to then be reported by physicians. Over 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Canada and of those 0.045% (47,010) had a non-serious adverse effect and 0.011% (11,702) had a more serious adverse event. A more serious and very rare side effect (0.002%) is inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), predominately in males aged 12-39.

Infections activate the immune system; therefore, several (auto) immune diseases can be triggered by an infection. Vaccination prevents infections but can also to a lesser extent trigger (auto) immune diseases.

Evidence indicates that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines continue to outweigh the risks of the disease.

The more common adverse events, up to January 5, 2024, were: