More concerning VAERS,,,

From The Mad Virologist (May 26, 2016),,,

To start with, VAERS is a surveillance system that is designed to alert the FDA and CDC if there is a unforeseen adverse reaction to a vaccine (http://goo.gl/uryjgl). But the catch here is the system is set up to allow anyone to submit a report. In deciding this, the FDA and CDC are trying to prevent underreporting, which in the case of a serious issue could be deadly.Several people have demonstrated how this might swing too far the other way by submitting very obvious fake reports. One person described developing powers much like the Incredible Hulk after receiving a vaccine and another person submitted a report saying that they had developed powers like Wonder Woman (http://goo.gl/XCxVub). So clearly, not every report in VAERS is accurate or the result of vaccination.

But how do researchers properly utilize this system? The simple answer is through verifying the reports and using it as the starting point for a study. A good example of this is the FDA and CDC noticing a potential increase in febrile seizure after the administration of an influenza vaccine (https://goo.gl/cq6wwp). Because they noticed a potential problem, this is the starting point for a carefully designed study to determine if the risk is due to the vaccine and how often it happens. As part of that starting point, reported cases of febrile seizures were verified by checking the medical records.

Unfortunately many people abuse the system and link all adverse events that happen to occur after vaccination, including deaths due to murders, suicides and car accidents, to a given vaccine. Because this happened shortly after vaccination, some people draw the conclusion that the vaccine killed them when it is a tragic coincidence that had nothing to do with vaccination. This type of study is referred to as "dumpster diving" in VAERS and is used to support all sorts of wild accusations about the danger of vaccines despite the lack of actual evidence. I mentioned this practice a few days ago in a post (https://goo.gl/yGlbmj).

So in the simplest terms, VAERS is designed to warn those responsible for the safety of vaccines, in the US, before a huge problem emerges. However, much like vaccine inserts, it does not provide a complete picture of what the potential risks of vaccinations are nor does it show that vaccines cause specific adverse events. It is a highly useful tool if you understand the limitations of the system and what it was meant to do. It can provide researchers a glimpse into what risks might be associated with a given vaccine so that a proper study can be conducted to answer that question. In this way it is highly useful. As a source to show a causal effect, not so much.