A publication is circulating on Facebook that ensures that the Covid-19 vaccine caused more deaths in the United States of America in 2021 than the number of deaths due to the direct effect of weapons in the previous year. The information is allegedly based on the websites from the FBI and VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), but the numbers from the mail do not exactly match the data provided on the two pages (and even if they were correct, the comparison would not be objectively correct).

Let’s look at the FBI data first. According to the federal agency’s annual report on crime, in 2020 there were 8,695 homicides with firearms in the United States, a figure much higher than that indicated by the Facebook post. Of these, 386 correspond to shotguns and 20 to automatic rifles, the weapon shown in the image.

Regarding the VAERS data included in the mailthese also do not correspond to the information online, although they are closer – in 2021, at least 9,976 deaths associated with the various measures against Covid-19 were reported through the communication system. However, as the place Warning, this data has not been officially validated.

Anyone can report adverse events through VARS, an alert system created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in an early phase of vaccination to collect and share information about possible side effects. Therefore, it may “contain incomplete, erroneous, coincident or unverifiable information”.

The CDC’s Covid-19 Vaccines page says that, so far, nine deaths have been identified “coincidentally associated” with immunization, specifically the Janssen vaccine, and warns that “reports of death after vaccination against Covid -19 are rare.” The figure is lower than any of the FBI weapons.

The CDC advises that it will continue to monitor the vaccination process together with the FDA.

conclusion

It is not true that more people have died in the United States of America from the Covid-19 vaccine than from weapons. The figures released are not correct and distort reality: according to official figures, deaths related to the use and possession of weapons in 2020 are much higher than deaths associated with vaccination against the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Thus, according to the Observer classification system, this content is:

WRONG

In the Facebook classification system this content is:

FAKE: the main content claims are factually inaccurate. This option typically matches “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.

NOTE: This content was curated by The Observer as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.