Covid Vaccine Side Effects: 4 Takeaways From Our Investigation

Soon after their arrival in late December 2020, the Covid-19 vaccines turned the pandemic around and opened a path back to normalcy. They prevented about 14.4 million deaths worldwide, according to one estimate.

In a small percentage of people, they also produced side effects.

Over the course of more than a year, The New York Times talked to 30 people who said they had been harmed by Covid vaccines. Their symptoms may turn out to be unrelated to the shots. But they — along with more than a dozen experts — felt federal officials are not doing enough to investigate their complaints.

All vaccines carry some risk of side effects. More than 270 million Americans received about 677 million doses of the Covid vaccines, and even rare side effects — occurring, say, in just 0.001 percent of patients — might mean thousands of recipients were affected.

Indeed, more than 13,000 have submitted claims to a government fund that compensates people for Covid vaccine injuries. So far, however, only a dozen people have been compensated, nearly all of them for a heart problem caused by the vaccines.

Here are four takeaways from our investigation.

For most people, the benefits of Covid vaccines outweigh any risks.

Even the best vaccines and drugs have some side effects. That does not negate their benefits, nor does it suggest that people should stop taking them.